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Welcome The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA fights exclusively to improve conditions that affect the safety, health and security of flight attendants. The AFA-CWA Air Safety, Health and Security Department (ASHSD) provides full-time staff support in Washington, DC for the AFA-CWA Safety Committee chairs and members and is responsible for solving problems that cannot be solved at the carrier level.
Upcoming Events No Events Found What's New at ASHSD New protections are explained in AFA booklet
Enforcement of new protections in the aircraft cabin begins on March 26, 2014, six months after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) freed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to regulate the safety and health of crewmembers working on aircraft in operation.
AFA worked on multiple fronts for decades to secure these important safety and health protections for Flight Attendants on commercial aircraft, and has now published a detailed online booklet, The Rules Are Changing: How New OSHA Protections Will Affect You, to inform Flight Attendants about the changes.
Download: FAA OSHA booklet 20140326.pdf
AFA’s persistence pays off. On August 22, 2013, the FAA announced a final policy statement that will allow OSHA oversight and implementation of several standards to regulate the safety and health of crewmembers working on aircraft. More background on the new policy and what it means for AFA members is available here and here. AFA looks forward to continuing to work with the FAA, OSHA, and industry to make the aircraft cabin a safer, healthier workplace.
AFA Press Release: Flight Attendant Union's Enduring Efforts For Safety and Health Protections In The Cabin Become Reality
The time to submit comments to the FAA and OSHA on the historic FAA proposed policy statement allowing OSHA to regulate the Flight Attendant aircraft cabin workplace closed as of January 22, 2013. AFA submitted comments in strong support of the new policy. A number of AFA members also submitted very thoughtful comments about their exposure to occupational health and safety hazards in the cabin and the need for long overdue OSHA protections.
Download: AFA-CWA_comments_FAA_OSHA_policy.pdf
On December 7, 2012, the FAA published a new policy proposal in the Federal Register for addressing flight attendant workplace safety, which comes after the AFA aggressively advocated for Flight Attendant safety and health protections to be included in the FAA reauthorization bill signed by President Obama in February 2012. The FAA/OSHA draft policy statement can be viewed here. The FAA is requesting comments on or before January 22, 2013, and the AFA Air Safety, Health and Security Department is planning to submit comments. [NOTE: On December 21, 2012, the FAA announced an extension of the original comment deadline, which was January 7, 2013, at the request of airline associations.] More information and background is on our FAA/OSHA page.