The Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) is applying for the Worker Health and Safety Training for the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex Cooperative Agreement for 7,604,052 dollars to conduct a worker training program that will protect workers and community residents from exposure to hazardous materials, waste operations and incidents at facilities in the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Energy. By the end of the funded 5-year period, more than 22,800 workers will receive 257,000 hours of training (OSHA Standard, 29 CFR 1910.120 (sections e and q) that will enable them to protect themselves during emergencies and to implement strategies to prevent potentially deadly accidents. PACE is the new union formed when the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) and the United Paperworkers International Union (UPIU) merged in 1999. Together, the two unions represent over 330,000 workers at some of the most dangerous industrial facilities in America. Nearly 6,000 work at DOE sites. To do this PACE proposes the following goals: Extensive and Intensive Training: During the first year of the proposed project, PACE intends to deliver 219 classes, reaching 3,958 workers with 46,480 contact hours of training. PACE will meet or exceed these training numbers in each of the succeeding four project years. The classes will consist of 40-hour General Site Worker Training classes for Hazardous Waste Site workers; 24-hour awareness classes for TSD site workers and; the annual 8-hour refresher training required for all site workers to maintain their certification. Each year worker-trainers will receive 40-hours of technical training. New Initiatives: PACE proposes four new initiatives: 1) Following the DOE call for Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) programs we will establish 3 ISMS programs over the next 5 years, and we will create 3 new ISMS training modules for all courses; 2) We will build the Self-sufficiency Research and Evaluation Project (SREP) initiative that uses worker-led, team-based processes to design and carry out evaluation plans; 3) We will conduct 15 Community/Labor workshops over 5 years; 4) We will fully participate in the Multi-Grantee Trainer, Curriculum and Evaluation Initiative that brings together four grantees - PACE, ICWUC Consortium, the Operating Engineers, and the Center to Protect Worker Rights. The program will work with a national network of support that includes: the Labor Institute for support to develop trainers, produce materials and provide guidance for the new initiatives; the University of Massachusetts at Lowell for technical assistance, the New Perspectives Consulting Group for evaluation support; and an advisory board with both management and scientific subcommittees.
