Region 7 News Release:   KC-OSHA-03
Mon., Jan. 8, 2001
Contact: Norma J. Conrad
Phone: (816) 426-5491
Contact: Patrick A. Hand
Phone: (816) 426-5490

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Contact: Frank Meilinger
Phone: 202-693-1999
Application: Cynthia Bencheck
Phone: 847-297-4810

OSHA AWARDS MORE THAN $667,000 IN GRANTS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH TRAINING PROGRAMS IN IOWA AND MISSOURI

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. Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Ia., will receive $312,000 to train som 1,450 individudals. St. Louis (Missouri) University will receive $355,000. 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. A fact sheet highlighting the Iowa and Missouri grantees' projects is attached.

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.

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.