OSHA offers $12.7 million in training grants

The U.S. Department of Labor will provide a funding opportunity for more than $12.7 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to support training initiatives designed to promote safety and health in the nation’s workplaces. Administered by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the grants will support recipients’ efforts to provide instructor-led remote and in-person hands-on training for workers and employers in small businesses, industries with high injury, illness and fatality rates, and vulnerable workers who are underserved, have limited English proficiency or are temporary workers. 

Specifically, the grants will fund training and education on how to recognize, avoid and control hazards, and inform workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. 

Applicants may apply in the following categories: 

• Targeted topic training: Support educational programs that identify and prevent workplace hazards and require applicants to conduct training on OSHA-designated workplace safety and health hazards. 
• Training and education materials development: Support the development of quality classroom-ready training and educational materials that identify and prevent workplace hazards. 
• Capacity building: Support organizations in developing new training programs to assess needs and plan for full-scale safety and health education programs, expanding their capacity to provide workplace safety and health training, education and related assistance to workers and employers.  

Applicants must register with grants.gov and SAM.gov to apply for a grant opportunity. Submit applications at grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on July 7, 2023.  

OSHA awards grants to nonprofit organizations, including community, faith-based, grassroot organizations, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, Indian tribes, and public/state colleges and universities to provide free workplace safety and health training. 

The grants honor the legacy and work of Dr. Susan Harwood who, during her 17 years with OSHA, developed workplace safety guidelines for benzene, formaldehyde, bloodborne pathogens and lead in the construction industry. Harwood also was primary author of OSHA’s cotton dust standard which virtually eliminates byssinosis — a lung disease that causes asthma-like symptoms — among textile workers.