Over $12M in Grants Awarded for Workplace Safety Promotion

When it comes to ensuring frontline employees such as custodians are safe, half the battle is having them aware of hazards that could be encountered. 

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has awarded approximately $12.7 million in grants to 100 non-profit organizations across the nation to support education and training to help workers and employers recognize serious workplace hazards, employ injury prevention and understand workers' rights and employers' responsibilities under federal law.

Funded through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, the grants are being awarded in three categories, namely Targeted Topic Training, Training and Educational Materials Development and Capacity Building grants.

"The award of Susan Harwood Training Grants remind us of Dr. Harwood's important contributions to making our nation's workplaces safer and healthier for countless U.S. workers," said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. "Dr. Harwood's dedication to educating workers and employers continues to inspire those of us at the Department of Labor and those whose organizations will use these grants to help save lives."

The program's name and purpose reflect the legacy of the former director of OSHA's Office of Risk Assessment. In 17 years with OSHA, the late Dr. Harwood was instrumental in developing federal standards that today protect people from workplace hazards, including asbestos, benzene, bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, formaldehyde and lead.

"These grants are one of our most effective resources for providing training and education to hard-to-reach workers in high-hazard industries. More than a third of the awardees will be conducting training in the south, improving our training footprint in an area with a large, underserved workforce," says Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. "Training should be a key part of ensuring vulnerable workers are in safe and healthy environments and that they feel safe at work."

OSHA awards grants to non-profit organizations, including community and faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor-management associations, Native American tribes and local and state-sponsored colleges and universities. Target trainees include small-business employers and underserved vulnerable workers in high-hazard industries.

The full list of recipients can be found here. Read up on the most common causes of custodial injuries suffered on-the-job here.