The alliance, said Gary Jones, manager of environmental health and safety affairs with the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, based in Sewickley, Pa., will enable OSHA and the printing and graphic arts industries to develop best practices and technical knowledge on ergonomics to foster prevention of injuries and illnesses.

"It's a way to help get your arms around the problem and look at what solutions can be implemented," he said.

The solutions, he said, "have to be implemented at different levels." Those levels range from the sophisticated to the simple, "because the vast majority of our members are what you would consider the smallest of the small, which is 20 employees or less."

Finding solutions to problems, however, does not necessarily mean implementing automation, which can introduce "a separate set of problems."

Mr. Jones said the total population of businesses in the printing and screen printing industries is around 90,000 in the United States.

Such an alliance of business cooperating with OSHA is "unheard of in recent history," he said. The new direction will demonstrate that employers and OSHA have the same goals?"to provide a safer workplace for the employees," he said.

The old approach was a "one-size-fits-all." The driving force now is that "we are allowed to home-grow our own guidelines and OSHA will support us in that effort." At the same time, he said, "this doesn't mean we're catching a free break, there is still the threat of enforcement."

OSHA, he said, is also working with other industries to develop guidelines, including the meatpacking industry. "Part of what's driving this is the need to show Congress that legislation on this issue isn't needed."

The printing industry, he said, ranks 38 in the number of workdays missed due to injuries. The top three, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are trucking; nursing aides, orderlies and attendants; and laborers, non-construction.

OSHA administrator John L. Henshaw said in an announcement that, "We are pleased that these associations want to work with OSHA to make information on ergonomics best practices more widely available and more broadly implemented in their industry to promote safe and healthful working conditions for graphic communications employees."

The alliance, he said, "is the first of many we expect to sign with industries that are moving forward to address ergonomics as part of their effort to strengthen safety and health in their workplaces."

Under the Alliance, the partners will work together to develop and disseminate best practices information on ergonomics at conferences, OSHA said. Information also will be available in print form and on both industry and OSHA Web sites.

In addition, Alliance members will promote a national dialogue on workplace safety and health through joint outreach efforts, sharing data that support solutions to ergonomic hazards, and convening and participating in forums and roundtable discussions to identify innovative solutions to ergonomic issues in the printing and graphic arts industry.

To implement the Alliance, a team representing each organization will meet quarterly. The implementation team will establish working procedures; identify roles and responsibilities under the Alliance; and track, analyze and share information on activities and results, according to OSHA.

The alliance has a one-year term. The agreement can be automatically renewed annually, OSHA said.