OSHA awards $12.7M in safety and health training grants

Washington — OSHA has issued $12.7 million in safety and health training grants to 102 nonprofit organizations, via its Susan Harwood Training Grant Program.

The funding supports the delivery of training and education on hazard awareness, avoidance and controls, as well as the education of workers on their rights and employers on their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

This round of funding was awarded to programs in the categories of targeted topic training, training and educational materials development, and capacity building.

“Targeted training audiences include small-business employers, limited English proficiency workers, as well as workers identified as illiterate/low literacy, disadvantaged, underserved, low-income, minority and others hard to reach,” OSHA says.

Eligible organizations include community and faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor-management associations, Native American tribes, and local and state-sponsored colleges and universities.

The program is named in honor of the late former director of OSHA’s Office of Risk Assessment. In her 17 years with the department, Harwood played a key role in agency standards on asbestos, benzene, bloodborne pathogens, lead, cotton dust and formaldehyde.