The grants are targeted to organizations proposing to educate workers and employers in small businesses, non-English speaking workers and workers who are employed in high hazard industries and industries with high fatality rates.
This year, OSHA will be awarding three categories of Susan Harwood grants:
Targeted Topic Training Grants will support training for eight occupational safety and health topics areas: construction hazards, general industry hazards, transportation fatality hazards, workplace violence, emergency preparedness and response, lead exposure, silica exposure, and a small business topic: safety and health management systems. Grants will be awarded for 12-months with an average award of $150,000.
OSHA Training Materials Development Grants will support the development, evaluation and validation of training materials for the same eight areas as the targeted topic training grants. Grants will be awarded for 12-months with an average award of $200,000.
Ergonomics Guidelines Training Grants will support the development and conducting of training based on the new industry-specific ergonomics guidelines being developed by OSHA for four industries: the nursing home industry, retail grocery stores, poultry processing and shipyards. Grants will be awarded for a 12-month period with an average award of $100,000.
Details about the grants and the application process are available in today's Federal Register. Applications are available on OSHA's Web site at www.osha.gov/fso/ote/training/sharwood/sharwood.html or may be obtained from the OSHA Office of Training and Education, Division of Training and Educational Programs, 2020 South Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, Ill., 60005, telephone (847) 297-4810.
Grant applications are due in the Arlington Heights office by 4:30 p.m. central time, July 3.
The training 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.