OSHA grant enhances safety training

Northwest Wisconsin Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (CEP, Inc.) has received a grant for $112,973 from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. CEP, Inc. will use this grant to develop a Center for Combustible Dust Safety and Health to provide safety training, education, and assistance for rural workers and employers in wood product and other manufacturing industries.

CEP, Inc.’s Center for Combustible Dust Safety and Health will be located in Ashland and will serve 17 counties through northern Wisconsin. The Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board, Bay Area Workforce Development Board, and North Central Workforce Development Board serve employers in this region. The center will combat the dangers of combustible dust with education and safety training to employers and workers in high-hazard manufacturing industries. This is a crucial training need as 31 percent of workers in the grant region earn a living through the manufacturing sector, which includes many companies producing wood products. Research has shown that wood dust causes more workplace injury and death than any other combustible dust.

This grant will build upon the collaborative success of the pilot Susan Harwood Training Grant that CEP, Inc. received in 2010. The pilot grant provided funds for CEP, Inc. to explore and assess the safety training needs and barriers within the wood products manufacturing industry.

The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program focuses on providing training and education funding for workers and employers on the recognition, avoidance and prevention of safety and health hazards in their workplaces, as well as informing workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the OSH Act. Target audiences for Susan Harwood grants include small business employers and under-served, low-literacy workers in high-hazard industries. Since 1978, over 1.8 million workers have been trained through this program. A total of 72 nonprofit organizations, community/faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, and colleges and universities received funding for various projects.

For more information about the CEP, Inc. Center for Combustible Dust Safety and Health, please contact Carrie Miller, Focused Initiatives Manager, at 715-682-9141, ext. 200 or cmiller@nwcep.org.

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