An alliance between the Professional Landcare Network and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has produced the development of dozens of safety education materials in English and Spanish for the landscape industry.

At a press conference at the recently concluded GIE+Expo, PLANET president Glenn Jacobsen announced that his organization's alliance with OSHA has been renewed for another five years.

The purpose of the alliance, which was first formed in October 2008, is to increase workplace safety in the landscape industry, with a particular emphasis on reducing and preventing exposure to manual material handling accidents, reducing slip/trip/fall hazards, and addressing motor vehicle safety issues.

Another focus of the alliance is communicating with, and giving access to training resources to, hard-to-reach segments of the industry including youth, low-literacy level individuals, and non-English speaking workers. These efforts led to speaking engagements by OSHA representatives at the Green Industry Conference and at student career days, the promotion of the North American Occupational Safety Health Week each year, and other safety initiatives.