UPR-Mayagüez gets $155K grant to promote workplace safety
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has awarded approximately $12.7 million in grants to 100 nonprofit organizations across the U.S. to support education and training to help workers and employers identify significant workplace hazards, implement injury prevention measures and understand their rights and responsibilities under federal law.
The list of awardees included the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayagüez Campus, which received a little more than $155,000.
Funded through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, the grants are being awarded in three categories: Targeted Topic Training, Training and Educational Materials Development, and Capacity Building grants.
“The award of Susan Harwood Training Grants reminds us of Dr. Harwood’s important contributions to making our nation’s workplaces safer and healthier for countless U.S. workers,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Dr. Harwood’s dedication to educating workers and employers continues to inspire those of us at the Department of Labor and those whose organizations will use these grants to help save lives.”
The program’s name and purpose reflect the legacy of the former director of OSHA’s Office of Risk Assessment. Over her 17 years with OSHA, the late Dr. Harwood was instrumental in establishing federal standards that today safeguard workers from workplace hazards, including asbestos, benzene, bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, formaldehyde, and lead.
“These grants are one of our most effective resources for providing training and education to hard-to-reach workers in high-hazard industries. More than a third of the awardees will be conducting training in the south, improving our training footprint in an area with a large, underserved workforce,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “Training should be a key part of ensuring vulnerable workers are in safe and healthy environments and that they feel safe at work.”
OSHA awards these grants to nonprofit organizations, including community and faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor-management associations, Native American tribes and local and state-sponsored colleges and universities. Target trainees include small-business employers and vulnerable workers in high-hazard industries.
I’m a proud graduate of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and currently a 20-year employee of the US Department of Labor OSHA. I’m extremely happy that UPRM has received $155K grant to promote occupational safety and health.