OSHA Alliance

Through the Alliance, the organizations will use relevant injury, illness, and hazard exposure data when appropriate to help identify areas of emphasis for Alliance awareness, outreach, and communication activities. The Alliance will explore and implement selected options to evaluate the effectiveness of the Alliance and measure the impact of the overall effort on improving workplace safety for employers and workers.

In developing this Alliance, OSHA and the other alliance members recognize that OSHA’s State Plan and On-site Consultation Program partners are an integral part of the OSHA national effort to assure employers provide a safe and healthy workplace and that information about the products and activities of the Alliance may be shared with these partners for the advancement of common goals.

OSHA’s Alliances provide parties an opportunity to participate in a voluntary cooperative relationship with OSHA for purposes such as raising awareness of OSHA’s rulemaking and enforcement initiatives, training and education, and outreach and communication. These Alliances have proved to be valuable tools for both OSHA and its Alliance participants.

OSHA Alliance (Colorado)

The Master Brewers Association of the Americas, the Brewers Association (BA), and the Colorado Brewers Guild have established an alliance with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Region VIII Office, Englewood Area Office, and Denver Area Office, as well as the Colorado On-Site Health & Safety Consultation Program. The alliance will foster a collaborative relationship to provide the brewing industry in Colorado with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help protect the health and safety of their workers.

"This program will reduce and prevent exposure to hazards during brewing, fermenting, packaging, and delivery of beer," said Larry Horwitz, BA Board of Directors member and BA Safety Subcommittee chair. "The alliance advances one of the Brewers Association’s core values: prioritizing safety and the climate to support it."

"With a steady expansion and over 400 breweries in Colorado, safety has risen to the top of almost every one of our brewers' concerns," said Andres Gil Zaldana, Colorado Brewer Guild executive director. "Our breweries recognize that adopting a culture of safety in their taprooms and brewhouses will help prevent and mitigate accidents at all stages of the beer lifecycle. We are excited to partner with the BA, Master Brewers, and OSHA through the alliance to develop industry-specific education and training and provide inspectors in Colorado with insight into our rapidly evolving and diverse brewery marketplace."

"Collaboration is important; we do our best work in teams," said Toby Eppard, Master Brewers president. “Our desire to collaborate with OSHA, the BA, and the Colorado Brewers Guild is the very best example of what our community can accomplish. Brewers: the challenge now is to recognize the opportunity to build a climate of safety, enabling your continued success making great beers whilst protecting your best asset—your people."

One of the first Alliance activities that will take place will be a "training" session with Colorado OSHA inspectors at Sleeping Giant Brewery in Denver on April 12, 2019. "Our chance to work face-to-face with Colorado OSHA enforcement agents, and to share what we know about brewery-specific risks, will result in the best outcomes for breweries undergoing inspection," said BA Safety Ambassador Matt Stinchfield. "In the long term, this alliance will drive injury rates downward while increasing regulatory compliance."

Alliances have proved to be valuable tools for both OSHA and alliance participants. The members of this alliance will work together to achieve the following trainings and objectives:

• Develop and deliver effective training and education programs
• Promote the shared free access to existing resources, such as the Master Brewers Safety Resources and the BA Online Brewery Safety Training
• Share information among OSHA personnel and safety and health professionals regarding industry best practices
• Provide free safety and health consulting using the OSHA On-Site Consultation programs (available in all fifty states)

Stinchfield went on to say, "The latest data suggest that brewing is among the safest of the beverage manufacturing industries, but we do not want to stop there. Everyone in our industry feels it personally whenever a brewer is hurt or sickened. The endgame is when workplace injuries are almost unheard of."

The agreement establishing the alliance was signed on March 8, 2019, and will remain in force for two years.

OSHA Alliance (New York)

Master Brewers Joins OSHA Alliance Promoting Safety Resources for New York State Craft Brewers

Alliance provides support to ensure safe workplaces for brewery employees

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – November 9, 2022 – The Master Brewers Association of the Americas (Master Brewers), the Brewers Association and the New York State Brewers Association have entered a two-year alliance with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Region II Office and New York State Labor to help improve resource dissemination and safety outcomes for the craft brewers of New York state.

Participants will empower brewery safety improvement with OSHA On-Site Consultation, support from OSHA outreach and compliance services, publishing of safety alerts, training, program templates, conference activities, and other collaborative efforts.

“At the Master Brewers, safety education and awareness have always been a high priority in our programming. By joining forces with New York State, OSHA, the Brewers Association, and the New York State Brewers Association, we are helping to further safety awareness throughout our industry," said Master Brewers President Andy Tveekrem. “We look forward to getting our Safety Committee aligned with this program and thereby deepening our outreach to the brewing community. Our OSHA Alliances have always brought value to our members, and we are excited to be doing the same in the New York region."

This alliance reinforces Master Brewers' commitment to brewery safety. The Master Brewers Brewery Safety Committee promotes safe brewing practices by providing resources and education to brewers to help them create a safe and healthy work environment for all brewery employees.

The agreement is the result of two years of collaboration and is in effect through September 2024.

Note: By entering into an Alliance with a party, OSHA is not endorsing or promoting, nor does it intend to endorse or promote, any of that party’s products or services.