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The Susan Harwood Grant Program is now accepting from organizations delivering training and education to workers and employers on occupational health and safety topic areas. The focus of this Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program is to provide training and education for workers and employers on the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of safety and health hazards in their workplaces, and to inform workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. Target audiences include underserved, low-literacy, and workers in high-hazard industries. Since 1978, over 2.1 million workers have been trained through this program.

Funding Levels:

• $7 million available for Targeted Topic Training Grants ($160,000 maximum award amount) and Training and Education Material Development Grants ($75,000 maximum award amount)
• $4.5 million for a Capacity Building: Developmental ($180,000 maximum award amount) and Pilot Grant ($80,000 maximum award amount)
• $11.5 million in funding is available for the whole program

Eligible Applicants:

• Qualifying labor unions
• Community-based and faith-based organizations
• Employer associations that are not an agency of a state or local government
• State or local government-supported Institutions of higher education
• Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian-controlled organizations serving Indians, and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Eligible projects:

Grants solicited for this year are: Targeted Topic Training grants, Training Materials Development grants, and Capacity Building: Developmental and Pilot grants.

• Targeted Topic Training grants focus on training of workers and/or multiple employers on occupational safety and health hazards associated with one of the OSHA selected training topics.
• Training Materials Development grantees are expected to develop, evaluate, and validate classroom quality training materials on one of the OSHA selected training topics.
• Capacity Building grants consist of two categories: Developmental and Pilot. Developmental grants will support and assist organizations with previously established trainings through program expansion; while Pilot grants will assist organizations with assessing their capability to administer trainings through test program objectives.

Topic areas for this year include:

1. Agricultural Safety and Health (including falls, grain handling, entrapment, combustible dust, and fires)
2. Chemical Hazards/Hazard Communication
3. Confined Space – Construction Industry, Maritime Industry, or General Industry
4. COVID-19 (worker protection and personal protective equipment)
5. Excavation Hazards (cave-in, collapse, entrapment)
6. Fall Prevention (ladders, scaffolds, falls from heights) – Construction Industry, Maritime Industry, or General Industry
7. Fire Safety (evacuation and preparation)
8. Healthcare (safe handling, chemical exposure, personal protective equipment)
9. Lockout/Tagout (hazardous energy)
10. Machinery and Machine Guarding Hazards (amputation prevention)
11. Noise/Gearing conservation – Construction Industry, Maritime Industry, or General Industry
12. Oil and Gas Production (including hydraulic fracturing, fire, explosion, and struck-by hazards)
13. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
14. Residential construction hazards
15. Warehousing (including powered industrial trucks/forklifts, electrical safety, and hazard communication)

Duration: Program funding will be for a 12-month period beginning no later than September 30, 2020, and ending on September 30, 2021.

Match: There is no match requirement for this program.

The anticipated award date is September 2020.

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement for Targeted Topic Training can be found here.

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement for Training and Education Materials Development can be found here.

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement for Capacity Building can be found here.

For more information on this grant or how to apply with Morrison's assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530-893-4764.