IATSE-2nd2018_web

that wish to bring in outside trainers familiar with the IATSE
Curriculum to teach OSHA 10 to their workers.
By 2015, many IATSE local unions were expressing a need
for a high-quality safety curriculum that could be used by local
subject matter experts to train their workers. In response, the
TTF partnered with the UCLA Labor Occupational and Health
Department and trainers in local unions across North America
to produce a curriculum library available to local union trainers.
Developing a customized multi-module Entertainment Safety
curriculum for IATSE craftspeople was a huge undertaking, and
involved dozens of IATSE subject matter experts from Locals
all over the two countries. This included all ICAP members,
IATSE Vice Presidents and Representatives, and most Fund
Trustees. Taking nearly two years to complete, the Safety First!
curriculum ranges from Electrical Safety to Fall Prevention and
Protection, from Biological Hazards to Chemical Protection.
Also in 2015, IATSE launched a new safety hotline program
for members to report hazards on the job. While employers are
required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) to
report and address hazards, the hotline served as a safety net for
when employer reporting would break down. Since then, when
a member calls the IATSE Safety Hotline (844-IA AWARE, 844-
422-9273), the caller either leaves a message or talks to a safety
representative who begins handling the issue. Depending on
the circumstances, the safety representative either contacts the
Local’s representative and assists in resolving the issue, or calls the
employer directly.
The IATSE Safety Hotline does not relieve employers from
their responsibility to keep jobs safe, but it does provide an
important backstop in ensuring that employers do their job.
“Skills and safety are the backbone of a strong and healthy
union,” President Loeb said at the time. “In recent years, we
have made significant gains on this front as we continue to
negotiate improved working conditions in our contracts
and through the creation and implementation of the IATSE
Training Trust Fund, which provides skills training and safety
classes to members across the country, in all of the disciplines
the IATSE represents.”
Another safety advance occurred as a result of the 2015-
2018 Area Standards Agreement between the IATSE and the
AMPTP, which called for contributions from employers to
the TTF for the first time. Part of the agreement required the
online delivery of General Safety courses developed by Contract
Services Administration Training Trust Fund’s Safety Pass
program to motion picture workers in areas covered by this
Agreement. These courses are commonly known as the Safety
Pass “A” and “A2” classes. The TTF worked with Contract
Services personnel to develop a system for implementing this
program, while coordinating with the Locals participating in
the Area Standards Agreement to enroll their workers in these
classes. Now, workers from Locals performing work under the
Area Standards agreement can access these free safety courses
online, at any time of the day or night.
In 2018, the full menu of Safety First! courses was launched,
available both as individual online courses and as a narrated,
group-led format that Locals can use to teach group classes.
In addition, a new advance was made with the launch of the
IATSE Safety App, empowering members to take action directly
on their smartphones. Its development took many months, with
each Department adding functions and generating content. The
App links to outside websites, enabling members to access the latest
information from sources such as OSHA and the Provincial
Occupational Health and Safety Boards in Canada. It includes
a Hazard Reporting Form that has been adjusted to allow for a
wider variety of reports (including Harassment) and to better target
the appropriate personnel who can investigate and act on these
reports.
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