National News Release USDL: 01-07
Monday, January 8, 2001
Contact: Frank Meilinger
PHONE: (202) 693-1999
Application: Cynthia Bencheck
PHONE: (847) 297-4810

OSHA AWARDS MORE THAN $4.8 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH TRAINING PROGRAMS

Some of the nation's most vulnerable workers stand to benefit the most from the latest round of training grants awarded by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In all, 19 nonprofit organizations will share more than $4.8 million to develop and deliver safety and health training programs for immigrant and contingent workers, small business employers and employees, and workers in high-risk jobs such as construction.

"Those most at risk of injury, illness or death on the job must be given the tools they need to protect themselves," said Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman. "These grants are an excellent investment, providing training in the first year to more than 22,000 workers and small business owners across the country."

The 19 new grantees include four universities or colleges, six employer associations and non-profit organizations representing the forest, nursing, construction and solid waste industries, seven unions and two labor-management councils.

"One of my top priorities has been the expansion of OSHA's outreach and education capabilities," said OSHA Administrator Charles N. Jeffress. "These grants enable us to work with many partners to greatly increase the number of workers the agency can reach, especially those workers most in need of training and education to protect themselves against safety and health hazards on the job."

The new grantees were selected through a national competition announced last August. OSHA asked applicants to submit grant proposals to establish or expand their safety and health training and education capacity over a three-to-five year period. Grant recipients are expected to serve clients nationally or in multiple (five or more) states.

The grants may be funded for up to five years with an average first-year federal award of $250,000. Grantees must contribute a minimum of 10 percent for the first year of the grant. The non-federal matching share will increase by five percent each subsequent year of the award, for a maximum of 30 percent for grants extended to the fifth year.

The training grants are named in honor of the late Susan Harwood, a former director of the Office of Risk Assessment in OSHA's health standards directorate, who died in 1996. During her 17-year tenure with the agency, Harwood helped develop OSHA standards to protect workers exposed to bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.

The new Harwood grantees are:

Communication Workers of America, Washington, D.C., $203,000; Forest Industry Safety and Training Alliance, Inc. (FISTA), Rhinelander, Wisc., $299,000; Roofers and Waterproofers Research and Education Joint Trust Fund, Washington, D.C., $171,000; Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), College Station, Tex., $229,000; Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, Braintree, Mass., $265,000; AFSCME Training and Education Institute, Washington, D.C., $264,000; American Nurses Foundation (ANF), Washington, D.C., $261,000; American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C., $299,000; California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, San Francisco, Calif., $210,000; Construction Safety Council, Hillside, Ill., $274,000; International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Washington, D.C., $249,000; Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, $312,000; Labor Management Construction Safety Alliance, Boston, Mass., $420,000; Northwest Public Power Association, Richland, Wash., $376,695; Pennsylvania Foundry Association, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., $85,000; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, New York, N.Y., $236,000; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, N.J., $221,000; St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo., $355,000; The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Md., $75,000.

A complete listing of grantees with details on their training proposals is available on the OSHA website at www.osha.gov under training.

Communication Workers of America (CWA), Washington, DC. The CWA will develop and implement a train-the-trainer program, a workplace safety and health awareness training course, and a safety and health update program. Topics will include hazard communication, ergonomics, indoor air quality and the OSHA bloodborne pathogen standard. Videos, CD-ROMs, and slides will be developed; 2,818 will be trained nationwide; $203,000.

Forest Industry Safety and Training Alliance, Inc. (FISTA), Rhinelander, Wisc. FISTA will offer training on chainsaw safety, four levels of the Game of Logging, mechanized safety, and log truck driver workshops. Training will be updated and materials will be developed on ergonomics hazards. Arborist workshops and a data collection system tracking injuries in logging, sawmill and log truck industries will be developed. Future plans include safety workshops in landscaping, tree planting industries, and development of training materials for entry-level, non-English speaking and low literacy workers; 3,900 will be trained in six states; $299,000.

Roofers and Waterproofers Research and Education Joint Trust Fund, Washington, DC. The trust will develop bilingual classroom and computer-based training for fall protection, health hazards and burns, noise, ergonomics, and heat/cold stress. A bilingual CD in Spanish/English will be produced and bilingual fall protection train-the-trainer courses will be offered to unions with significant Hispanic membership. The complete text of the trust's Roofer's Safety and Health manual will be translated into Spanish; 440 will be trained in ten states; $171,000.

Texas Engineering Extension Servie (TEEX), College Station, Tex. TEEX will team with Hispanic-serving organizations in selected cities to recruit and train experienced Spanish speaking construction employees to become safety instructors. Thirty bilingual trainers will be trained each year of the grant and short course modules will be developed in English and Spanish. An illustrated Spanish-to-English /English-to-Spanish construction and safety terminology dictionary will also be prepared; 630 will be trained in five states; $229,000.

Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, Braintree, Mass. The union will work with the Labor Institute to form a Curriculum Advisory Team to develop a national utility industry curriculum. An industry-specific health and safety workbook will be created and translated into Spanish. The union will recruit, train, and provide support to worker-trainers from five regions who will conduct health and safety training; 980 will be trained in twenty-eight states; $265,000.

AFSCME Training and Education Institute, Washington, D.C. The grantee will present workshops for workers who serve on safety and health committees or want to establish committees. Train-the-trainer programs will be held for worker-trainers on ergonomics hazards for blue-collar occupations. Staff will conduct workshops on effective health and safety committees, ergonomics, work zone safety, and hazards to health care workers. District councils will receive safety and health committee training, and information on preventing ergonomic injuries and safer medical devices will be presented at biennial nurses conference; 2,000 will be trained nationwide; $264,000.

American Nurses Foundation (ANF), Washington, D.C. The foundation will develop new and expand existing health and safety programs for front line nurses on hazard identification and control measures, and a train-the-trainer program on OSHA standards and the identification and prevention of work-related hazards and exposures. Health and safety committees will be established for nine states. ANF will partner with state nurses associations to teach hazard assessment and promote cooperative efforts with health care employers to identify, eliminate and control hazards; 100 will be trained in nine states and Washington, D.C.; $261,000.

American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C. The union will qualify a minimum of fifty new trainers per year through OSHA's #501 General Industry Trainer course. A #501 course will be presented annually in each of the five regions. New trainers will teach a general industry outreach program and topic-specific courses. Project director and administrative assistant positions will be established; 2,300 will be trained nationwide; $299,000.

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, San Francisco, Calif. The grantee will develop and conduct a training program on how to create an effective health and safety program, basic workplace safety and health principles, laws, and problem solving. The workshop will target union stewards and health and safety committee members. An ergonomics train-the-trainer program will be conducted; 510 will be trained in western states; $210,000.

Construction Safety Council, Hillside, Ill. The council will create a national resource and training center on the safety and health needs of Hispanic construction workers. A Hispanic, bilingual safety trainer will be hired. Materials in other languages will be catalogued and translated into Spanish. OSHA construction courses will be offered in Spanish and Polish. Safety and health training issues for non-English speaking workers will be addressed at the 2002 Construction Safety Conference; 510 will be trained nationwide; $274,000.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Washington, D.C. Twenty food distribution warehouse employers will be recruited to participate in a joint labor-management ergonomics risk reduction program. Training materials will be developed in English and Spanish for a train-the-trainer course on ergonomic risk reduction for food order selectors and forklift operators. New trainers will conduct ergonomic hazard training for workers at warehouses; 40 employers will be trained nationwide; $249,000.

Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The college will recruit instructors from colleges and community organizations to deliver construction and general industry training to workers. Trainers will attend OSHA construction and general industry training courses and the college will add solid waste handling and recycling to the construction course and safety and health programs for small industries to the general industry course. Customized and web-enhanced materials will be developed for small businesses and vulnerable workers. A worksite demonstration will be held each year; 1,450 will be trained nationwide; $312,000.

Labor Management Construction Safety Alliance, Boston, Mass. The alliance plans to establish a training center. Two educators and an assistant will be hired to supplement existing staff and consultants will be hired as needed to conduct construction safety and health training for all levels of union construction personnel in New England. A new facility will be rented and a variety of construction safety and health courses will be conducted. An annual regional construction safety conference with workshops and training will be held; 1,800 will be trained throughout New England; $420,000.

Northwest Public Power Association, Richland, Wash. The association will expedite the establishment of the National Utility Training Services (NUTS) program. The program will provide training on safety subjects to workers and employers from the electrical and electrical interfacing industries. The NUTS facility will offer hands-on, performance-based training as well as distance learning options. Eleven new courses will be developed each year. In the first year, emergency personnel attending the HAMMER training site who potentially could be exposed to high voltage will receive training; 650 will be trained in ten western states; $376,695.

Pennsylvania Foundry Association, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. The association will video foundry work activities and perform an ergonomic analysis of operations. A trainer seminar and a worker module will be developed on ergonomic fundamentals and presented in on-site sessions to workers. New trainer and refresher sessions will be held, and a worker ergonomic pamphlet will be created in English and Spanish and distributed to unions that represent foundry workers and the American Foundry Society; 175 will be trained in five eastern states; $85,000.

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, New York, NY. The union will develop a network of health and safety resource people. Materials will be developed in Spanish and French. Two bilingual (Spanish) trainers will be hired and trained to work with poultry/food processing workers. The trainers will work with health and safety committees, train committee members, and conduct awareness training on hazard communication, ergonomics, machine guarding, electrical hazards and using the Internet; 547 will be trained nationwide; $236,000.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, N.J. The University will partner with community-based organizations to establish a national network of contingent health and safety worker-trainers to deliver training to day laborers, independent contractors, and workers employed by temporary agencies. A curriculum development committee will establish a workbook on worker's rights and workplace hazards. Trainer courses will be presented to worker-trainers who will train workers in five states; 345 will be trained nationwide; $221,000.

St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo. The University will work with local organizations to establish the Midwest Workers Institute for Safety and Health. The grantee will appoint an advisory group that will develop training courses, a safety and health resource center, and a Midwest Conference on Worker Safety and Health. The Institute will train workers in construction and other industries and train peer educators from carpenter affiliates in train-the-trainer programs. The new trainers will train construction apprentices. Training materials targeting entry-level, young, minority, low-literacy and immigrant workers will be developed; 3,000 will be trained; $355,000.

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Md. The association will develop health and safety curricula for managers, supervisors, and workers in the solid waste industry. An advisory committee will be created to develop on-site health and safety courses. Courses will cover a wide variety of hazards and tailored to different jobs in the industry; 660 will be trained nationwide; $75,000.