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OSHA News Release: [09/28/2007]
Contact Name: Sharon Worthy David Sims
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676 x1898
Release Number: 07-1486-NAT

U.S. Labor Department awards $10.1 million for safety and health training grants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today awarded more than $10.1 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to 55 nonprofit organizations for safety and health training and educational programs.

"Outreach and education are at the heart of our compliance assistance efforts for employers and employees," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "The Harwood grants will help OSHA expand its educational resources to protect working men and women."

The Susan Harwood Grants support workplace safety programs and the development of training materials to educate employees in high-hazard industries, those with limited English proficiency, those who are hard-to-reach and those in industries with high fatality rates, as well as small business employers.

The grants support training programs to educate employees on targeted topics such as construction hazards; general industry hazards; and other safety and health topic areas including pandemic flu and driver safety.

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 employees exposed to bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.

Editor's Note: A complete list of the 2007 Susan Harwood Grant recipients is posted at www.osha.gov/dcsp/ote/sharwood.html.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

Public inquiries should be directed to Cindy Bencheck at (847) 759-7726.