The local offices of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Kansas City, Mo., and Wichita, Kan., have made electrical safety a top priority.

The offices announced a unique partnership with several local organizations. The Kansas City Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC), the IBEW Local 124 and the NECA have signed an alliance with the offices to teach and promote safety standards to workers and employers.

The alliance is one of many in the OSHA Alliance Program, which partners local OSHA offices with community groups such as unions, trade associations, businesses and other community organizations to help promote safety in the workplace. Participants in the program support OSHA’s goals and sign alliance agreements that guide information sharing, outreach, training and other joint activities.

The Kansas City program is unique because it involves an apprenticeship training program, which will help teach safety standards and develop safety habits for workers from the beginning of their careers.

Steven J. Kaplan, OSHA’s acting regional administrator in Kansas City, said the unique approach will “help develop lifetime safety habits that prevent workplace injuries.”

The Kansas City Electrical JATC is jointly sponsored by IBEW Local 124 and NECA. It provides on-the-job training programs for electricians in several vocations.

The OSHA offices noted that the agency has made electrical safety a top priority since late 2021, after the fatal electrocution of four workers in the span of only five months. It has similar programs in St. Louis and Des Moines, Iowa.