Significance: The CPWR, the construction safety and health research and training arm of the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), AFL-CIO is submitting this application in cooperation with 11 international/national building trades unions for the Brownfields Minority Worker Training Program. The CPWR is proposing to continue administering an excellent and successful training program. Plans are to continue providing occupational health and safety training in the remediation of environmental hazards and provide construction skills to enhance employability of minorities living within the targeted cities. CPWR proposes to administer the program in cooperation with four community based organizations located in Boston, East Palo Alto, Los Angeles, and St. Paul. The primary objective of the program is to ensure that construction workers who are called upon to work in EPA Superfund environments have the training they need to protect their health and safety, and that of their co-workers, families, their communities, and the environment. The program will train, certify, and secure jobs for ethnic minorities living in and around the cities. designated brownfields, and it will address critical workforce development issues directly affecting disadvantaged worker populations. By providing life skills assistance, health and safety training and certifications, and construction skills training, the graduates of this program will become gainfully employed as environmental remediation workers and general construction workers. Training Plan: The program plans to train 95 disadvantaged, ethnically diverse minorities annually. Over the five year period, they expect to train 445 minorities to recognize hazardous materials, appropriately and safely remediate hazardous waste, lead, asbestos and mold, and provide the opportunity for them to work toward cleanup and revitalization of the communities. brownfields. CPWR has devised an excellent comprehensive training plan that will prepare trainees for careers as environmental remediation workers and general construction workers. CPWR has created training criteria to guide the development and implementation of the BMWTP training plans in each city. A strength of the training plan is its ability to be modified for each cities need. This allows each BMWTP city to select appropriate subjects for the population which they have recruited. The well-organized training curriculum is designed to give students meaningful experiences in the classroom and field settings. The training is designed to last for up to 16 weeks. Processes are in place to accurately and effectively track all training data and successfully keep in contact with program graduates. The program has developed successful methods and relationships to identify employment opportunities for participants. A good evaluation process is in place to assess the programs effectiveness. Target Audience: The proposal does an excellent job of illustrating the target communities and outlining the need for the specialized skills offered by the proposed training program. The proposal describes a sound approach for recruitment, retention, and outreach to ethnic minorities living in or around designated brownfields sites. As a result, first-rate participants are being chosen for the program.
