The alliance, the first of its kind in the nation, links together the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) in an alliance that will bring workplace safety education to students in 23 Houston high schools.
The partnership will be formalized with a May 7 signing ceremony in Houston.
"As part of Secretary Chao's YouthRules! initiative to keep America's working teens safe and healthy while on the job, we developed Web sites to provide our young workers with the knowledge they deserve so they can have safe and positive work experiences," OSHA Administrator John Henshaw said. "The YouthRules! Initiative seeks to educate young workers, parents, educators and employers on worker safety."
Through this alliance, ASSE and OSHA volunteers are teaching workplace safety and health and hazard recognition to high school students enrolled in the HISD Career and Technology Education programs. TEEX will be conducting train-the-trainer courses for the HISD teachers to certify them as OSHA 10-hour instructors.
OSHA, ASSE, TEEX and HISD have developed training and educational programs for students and teachers based on OSHA's general industry standards. Volunteers will utilize safety and health curricula related to specific industry or technology programs. Examples include agriculture, business offices, health science, food production, trade and industry. The program will also educate students about safety, health and environmental fields and provide train-the-trainer courses to educators each year.
For more information, visit www.osha.gov and http://youthrules.dol.gov/.