Labor Department Offers Nearly $13M in Grants for Worker Safety, Health Training

The Department of Labor is providing US$12.7 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to support the delivery of training and education to help workers and employers identify and prevent workplace safety and health hazards. 

Administered by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the grants aim to advance the job quality of the American workforce by providing instructor-led training opportunities for workers and employers in small businesses with an emphasis on industries with high injury, illness, and fatality rates. 

The grants will fund training and education on hazard awareness, avoidance, and controls to protect workers from on-the-job hazards, and to 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 Educational Materials Development: Support the development of quality classroom-ready training and educational materials that identify and prevent workplace hazards. 

The grants are available to nonprofit organizations, including community-based, faith-based, and grassroots organizations; employer associations; labor unions; joint labor/management associations; Indian tribes; and public/state colleges and universities; entities that operate OSHA On-Site Consultation programs; and OSHA Training Institute Education Centers. 

Submit applications no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on July 31. Applicants must register with Grants.gov and the System of Award Management to apply. 

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 was also primary author of OSHA’s cotton dust standard which virtually eliminated byssinosis—a lung disease that causes asthma-like symptoms—among textile workers. 

Read the funding notice and how to apply here.