OSHA Funds Training On Worker Rights, Violence

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has awarded nearly $4 million in grants to 37 organizations for the development of training programs that improve workplace health and safety. The Susan Harwood Training Grant winners are required to develop training programs, recruit workers and employers for training, conduct the training, and perform follow-up research to determine the training's effect on workplace injuries and health. The single largest grant ($468,000) was presented to the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health in Boston. The 18 committees that comprise this coalition will each instruct trainers, who will then train temporary workers, immigrants, and teenagers about worker rights under OSHA, including whistle-blower protection. Among the other grantees: Four grants totaling $345,000 were directed to programs addressing health and safety in food-processing industries; two grants totaling $160,000 were directed to organizations that will use the funds to address workplace violence issues; and eight grants were funded to provide training on ergonomics. OSHA expects to issue another request for proposals for training grants in early 1999.