Proposals are being accepted until Oct. 27 for $4.7 million in grants to nonprofit organizations for safety and health training under OSHA''s Susan Harwood Training Grants program.
OSHA is seeking proposals that target immigrant, contingent and other vulnerable workers, small business employers and employees, and workers in jobs with high-risk activities or hazards, such as the construction industry.
These grants may be funded for up to five years with an average first-year federal award of $250,000.
Organizations that get the grants must contribute a minimum of 10 percent for the first year of the grant.
The non-federal matching share will be increased by 5 percent each subsequent year of the award, for a maximum of 30 percent if a grant is extended to the fifth year.
Details about the grants and the application process appear in yesterday''s Federal Register.
Grant application instructions are available online at www.osha.gov under training.
The 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 workers exposed to bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos and lead in construction.
by Virginia Sutcliffe