Worker Health and Safety Training Cooperative Agreement

Schurman, Susan

Abstract

The George Meany Center for Labor Studies, in cooperation with eight rail unions, the AFL-CIO Department of Occupational Safety and Health, and the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department submits this application for EPA-HWWT. The total cost requested for this program is 5,083,868 dollars. The long-term aims of the poposal are to: Facilitate the safe transport of hazardous materials throughout the United States by educating rail workers to the dangers posed by hazmats and the proper safety techniques for responding to emergency situations; Encourage workplace and community safety and environmental protection generally by raising the level of worker awareness and involving employees directly in health and safety implementation; Expand training efforts to underserved populations by special efforts to reach out to Native Americans and those of limited English-speaking skills; Enhance access to information about hazardous materials through expanded use of advanced technologies. These efforts will be embodied in the proposed training program which will be provided to an estimated 17,245 workers during the five year funding cycle. All training will be designed to fully meet both DOT and OSHA standards for worker health and safety. The program is national in scope to be available to all types and categories of railroad workers throughout the country. Specific geographic targets will be established in California, Arizona, Texas, and Illinois to coincide with high concentrations of underserved Native American workers and employees with limited English- speaking skills. New initiatives that are part of this proposal are as follows: Expanded use of advanced technology and provision of computer access to make hazardous materials safety information available online and to make possible distance learning of training coursework; Enhancement of train-the-trainer efforts by establishment of certificate trainer program through the National Labor College; Development of multi-grantee efforts through increased coordination and expansion of joint efforts.