WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded $12.7 million to 102 nonprofits nationwide to fund education and training initiatives designed to create safer workplaces.

Administered by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, funds from the Susan Harwood Training Grants Program will support the delivery of training and education on hazard awareness, avoidance and controls, and inform workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. This round of funding was awarded to programs in the categories of targeted topic training, training and educational materials development, and capacity building.

“The Susan Harwood Training Grants are a critical investment that the Department of Labor makes to help workers know their rights and power – in turn making their workplace safer and healthier,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “This grant honors Dr. Harwood’s remarkable legacy of safeguarding workers from workplace hazards throughout her years at the Department of Labor. I’m eager to witness the impact these organizations will achieve in her name.” 

The grants are named in honor of the late Dr. Susan Harwood who served as the director of OSHA’s Office of Risk Assessment. In 17 years with the department, she was instrumental in developing federal standards that today protect people from workplace hazards, including asbestos, benzene, bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, formaldehyde and lead.

“These grants are our most effective tool for connecting organizations with needed resources to train and educate hard-to-reach workers in high-hazard industries,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas L. Parker. “Training is a key part of ensuring vulnerable workers understand what protections should be in place in their workplace and to know their rights.” 

OSHA awards 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. Targeted training audiences include small-business employers, limited English proficiency workers, as well as workers identified as illiterate/low literacy, disadvantaged, underserved, low-income, minority and others hard to reach.

The 2024 Susan Harwood Training Grant awards will provide training and education to at-risk and marginalized workers across the nation. They are listed by category as follows: 

Targeted Topic Training recipients

City

State

Award

South Arkansas College El Dorado

AR

$104,054

Arizona State University Tempe

AZ

$160,000

National Day Laborer Organizing Network Pasadena

CA

$160,000

Community Services & Employment Training, Inc. Visalia

CA

$160,000

Construction Education Foundation of Colorado Denver

CO

$159,860

Colorado State University Fort Collins

CO

$145,893

Connecticosh Health Technical Committee, Inc. Newington

CT

$159,814

Liuna Training & Education Fund Pomfret Center

CT

$158,677

American Road & Transportation Builders Association Washington

DC

$160,000

Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs Washington

DC

$160,000

Farmworker Justice Fund Inc Washington

DC

$160,000

Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc Washington

DC

$160,000

Florida International University Miami

FL

$160,000

United Safety Council, Inc. dba Florida Safety Council Orlando

FL

$94,409

OSAP Foundation Inc. (Org. for Safety, Asepsis & Prevention Foundation) Atlanta

GA

$143,789

Iowa State University of Science & Technology Ames

IA

$160,000

University of Iowa Iowa City

IA

$159,736

Latino Worker Safety Center Joliet

IL

$160,000

William Rainey Harper College Palatine

IL

$151,720

LeadingAge Kansas Foundation Topeka

KS

$138,346

Brazilian Worker Center, Inc. Allston

MA

$160,000

Casa, Inc. Hyattsville

MD

$160,000

Aquity4all Co Potomac

MD

$160,000

University of Southern Univ. of Maine System Portland

ME

$160,000

Wayne State University Detroit

MI

$159,710

Great Lakes Safety Training Center Midland

MI

$73,159

Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan Southfield

MI

$75,000

Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association Plymouth

MN

$158,424

Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest Lincoln

NE

$114,500

Tree Care Industry Association, Inc. Manchester

NH

$149,413

Applied Labor Employment Studies Institute Morristown

NJ

$160,000

Education & Training Institute, Inc. New Brunswick

NJ

$160,000

Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Newark

NJ

$155,080

Work Environment Council Of New Jersey, Inc. Trenton

NJ

$100,000

Alliance For Manufacturing & Tech. of the Southern Tier Binghamton

NY

$160,000

New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health, Inc New York

NY

$160,000

Restaurant Opportunities Center Roc United, Inc. New York

NY

$160,000

World Cares Center, Inc. New York

NY

$160,000

Mohawk Valley Community College Utica

NY

$57,709

University of Cincinnati Cincinnati

OH

$160,000

Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety & Health Philadelphia

PA

$160,000

University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Mayaguez

PR

$154,094

University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus San Juan

PR

$126,547

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Rapid City

SD

$60,000

Compacion Foundation, Inc. Balch Springs

TX

$159,752

Del Mar College District Corpus Christi

TX

$50,000

Organization of Hispanic Contractors Dallas

TX

$160,000

El Paso County Community College District El Paso

TX

$160,000

University of Houston System – Clear Lake Houston

TX

$155,556

South Texas College McAllen

TX

$159,928

University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio

TX

$160,000

Texas State University – San Marco San Marcos

TX

$160,000

Associated General Contractors Arlington

VA

$160,000

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Blacksburg

VA

$160,000

Legal Aid Justice Center Charlottesville

VA

$160,000

Boat People S.O.S., Inc. Falls Church

VA

$160,000

Timber Products Manufacturers Spokane

WA

$145,000

Marshall University Research Corporation Huntington

WV

$160,000

West Virginia University Research Corporation Morgantown

WV

$149,933

Training and Educational Materials Development recipients

City

State

Award

BPSOS Center for Community Advancement, Inc. Westminster

CA

$75,000 

University Enterprises, Inc. Sacramento University Sacramento

CA

$75,000 

Prolepsis Partners in Prevention Inc    Orlando

FL

$75,000 

University of Florida Gainesville

FL

$75,000 

Georgia Tech Research Corp Atlanta

GA

$74,494 

Southern Illinois University, Board of Trustees Carbondale

IL

$75,000 

Kansas State University Manhattan

KS

$74,949 

University of Kentucky Research Foundation Lexington

KY

$74,959 

IUPAT Finishing Trades Institute Hanover

MD

$75,000 

University of Central Missouri Warrensburg

MO

$75,000 

University of Missouri, The Curators of Columbia

MO

$75,000 

Mississippi State University Starkville

MS

$74,328 

University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg

MS

$75,000 

East Carolina University Greenville

NC

$74,998 

Kent State University Kent

OH

$72,983 

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station College Station

TX

$75,000 

Texas A&M Transportation Institute College Station

TX

$75,000 

University Of Texas at Arlington Arlington

TX

$75,000 

Capacity Building Developmental and Pilots recipients

City

State

Award

Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska Juneau

AK

$91,415

Marin Builders Association San Rafael

CA

$100,000

Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, Inc. Pomona

CA

$100,000

Valley Contractors Exchange, Inc. Chico

CA

$100,000

Connecticut Worker Center, Inc. Bridgeport

CT

$99,000

Georgetown University Washington

DC

$99,904

Georgia Tech Research Corp Atlanta

GA

$100,000

Lucky Shoals Community Association, Inc. Tucker

GA

$81,280

Chicago Jobs with Justice (JWJ) Chicago

IL

$100,000

Honeybee Strategies, Inc. Marrero

LA

$100,000

All Things Women, Inc. Livonia

MI

$91,997

Lamar Institute of Technology Beaumont

TX

$99,739

University of Washington Seattle

WA

$100,000

Worker Justice Wisconsin Madison

WI

$87,450

Capacity Building Follow-on recipients

City

State

Award

Shasta Builders Exchange Inc Redding

CA

$103,890 

The Sustainable Workplace Alliance, Inc. Eagle Lake

FL

$135,270 

Western Iowa Tech Community College Foundation Sioux City

IA

$145,800 

National Council for Occupational Safety & Health Somerville

MA

$145,797 

Melwood Horticultural Training Center, Inc. Upper Marlboro

MD

$112,996 

Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center Las Vegas

NV

$121,500 

State University of New York, The Research Foundation for the Syracuse

NY

$162,000 

Western New York Council on Occ. Safety & Health Inc Buffalo

NY

$161,910 

Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center Cincinnati

OH

$89,000 

Oklahoma State University Stillwater

OK

$162,000 

Millersville University of Pennsylvania  Millersville

PA

$149,099 

This Department of Labor news article "US Department of Labor announces $12.7M in grants awarded" was originally found on https://www.dol.gov/newsroom