Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has awarded approximately $11.2 million in Susan Harwood federal safety and health training grants to 90 nonprofit organizations nationwide. The grants will provide education and training programs to help workers and employers recognize serious workplace hazards, including the coronavirus, implement injury prevention measures and understand their rights and responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
Under the President’s Qualified Opportunity Zones Executive Order, OSHA awarded 80 grants to conduct occupational safety and health training in urban and economically distressed areas. The 2020 Harwood grant awards also funded 12 targeted-topic training grants, and four training and education materials development grants on topics related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Susan Harwood Training Grants Program funds grants to nonprofit organizations, including community and faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor-management associations, colleges and universities. Target trainees include small-business employers and underserved vulnerable workers in high-hazard industries. The fiscal year 2020 award categories are as follows: Targeted Topic Training, Training and Educational Materials Development, and Capacity Building.
The program honors the late Susan Harwood, former director of OSHA’s Office of Risk Assessment, who died in 1996. During her 17-year OSHA career, she helped develop federal standards to protect workers exposed to bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.
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 help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
Learn more about the 2020 Susan Harwood Training Grant Program recipients (PDF)
Source: US DOL