As a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit institution created for the sole purpose of improving working conditions in the U.S. construction industry, CPWR's mission aligns with the goals of the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP). CPWR's purpose as an organization, as stated in its Articles of Incorporation are; ?to encourage the elimination or reduction of conditions constituting hazards to the health or safety of workers, and to promote the maintenance and improvement of safe and healthy working conditions for workers.? Beyond these broad, long-term objectives of CPWR as an organization, the specific aims of this proposed training program are: 1) to train 5,820 students/workers in 398 courses in the first year with a total of 29,100 students in 1,945 courses over the five year period, and to continue instructor development through annual Train-the-Trainer programs and Instructor Enhancements (HWWTP); 2) to train 138 minority and other underrepresented students in 63 courses in the first year with a total of 690 students in 315 courses over a five year period in five cities (New Orleans, LA; St. Paul, MN; Flint, MI; Boston, MA; and East Palo Alto, CA) and place at least 80% in construction union apprenticeship training programs for jobs in the construction and environmental remediation industries (EWCTP); 3) to directly train 1,374 additional Outreach Instructors in 86 courses in the disaster program in the first year with a total of 6,870 Instructors in 430 courses over a five year period, while partially supporting more than 3,700 additional Outreach Instructors, and to continue to work with NIEHS, other grantees, and OSHA in moving the training forward as part of our collective efforts to increase preparedness in the U.S. construction industry to respond to large scale natural and man-made disasters (HDPTP); and 4) continue rigorous evaluation over the five year period to continuously assess training effectiveness of all three programs. To achieve these aims, CPWR submits this application in coordination and cooperation with community-based organizations in our targeted ECWTP cities and with a training consortium of 12 international/national building trades unions representing workers engaged in hazardous waste work at designated 1910.120 sites around the country, emergency response whether it be natural or man-made, and in other environmentally hazardous work assignments. Our proposed program is therefore national in scope, with our building trades union training consortium representing more than 3 million construction workers geographically dispersed throughout every state in the country. CPWR's building trades union training consortium is diverse, with each of our 12 partnering unions representing workers that apply different skills necessary on environment remediation sites. Typical of the cyclical, transient nature of the industry and its workforce, our target population of workers move on and off environmental remediation sites, often moving from one employer to another. The HWWTP proposal in this application describes in detail the types of jobs workers represented by each of our 12 consortium partners perform on designated 1910.120 sites. Whether they work on these sites for years, months, weeks, or just a few days, with the support of this proposed program CPWR and its 12 consortium partners aim to assure these workers are adequately trained to protect themselves, their co-workers, and their environment.
The relevance of this proposal is to mitigate the hazards posed by hazardous waste and other hazardous material releases to the environment and public by training the construction workforce to perform clean-up and emergency response operations in a safe and productive manner. A well trained construction workforce enables EPA, DHS and other local, state and federal agencies to not only protect the workers themselves, but to also protect the environment and public from hazardous waste and materials, and to respond to disasters whether they are man-made or natural.
