Environmental Health and Safety Blog | EHSWire

OSHA recently gave $10.1 million through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program whose ultimate goal is to reduce work place injuries and fatalities. This money will be distributed to 70 nonprofit organizations, community programs, faith based programs, worker unions, employer associations, labor and management associations, colleges and universities from all across the country.

Started in 1997, the program was re-named in honor of the late Susan Harwood, a former director of the Office of Risk Assessment in OSHA's Health Standards Directorate.  Per the OSHA website it states, “OSHA awards grants to nonprofit organizations on a competitive basis through its Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. Grants are awarded to provide training and education programs for employers and workers on the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of safety and health hazards in their workplaces and to inform workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act”.

The program gives out grants that help support health and safety training in businesses while creating injury prevention programs tailored to each specific industry. Employees will receive hands on health and safety training, and employers will be given assistance in developing training materials and safety rules to fit their daily operations.

Some of the topics covered will include agricultural safety, grain handling, slip and fall prevention, hair and salon hazards, ergonomic risks, chemical dangers, workplace violence and much more. Many of the companies who will benefit from these grants are small businesses in industries with a history of high injury or fatality rates. Industries with limited English speaking employees or workers who are quite young will also be able to reap the benefits of these grants. 

Per the OSHA website organizations eligible to apply include:

1. Nonprofit organizations, including qualifying community and faith-based organizations, employer associations and labor unions.
2. State and local government supported institutions of higher education

Emilcott understands that the successful implementation of any EHS program rests in the development and delivery of quality and thorough employee training. We have been providing EHS training services since our founding and have extensive experience creating programs for management/supervisory personnel as well as operations staff—with varying learning objectives.