Grant program awarding $10.5 million could be slashed with potential funding cuts

July 21st, 2017 by Dakota Software Staff

The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program is one that gives grants to eligible nonprofits that train and educate employers and staff on preventing health and safety hazards at the workplace. The program also informs employees of their rights and the responsibility of business owners to comply with them under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The program has successfully trained over 2.1 million workers since its creation in 1978, according to OSHA statistics. On July 14, the Department of Labor announced it will provide $10.5 million in funding through the grant. However, this could be the final endowment, as the DOL hopes to cut funding and eliminate the program in 2018.

Proposed cuts mean uncertain training and enforcement practices for businesses

According to Safety+Health Magazine, during a June 7 hearing before the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta said he wished to terminate the grants in favor of direct training by the DOL.

This proposal is part of the House Appropriations Committee's plan to cut $21.3 million from OSHA in fiscal year2018, according to their updated appropriations bill. These cuts will also lower OSHA's enforcement budget by $13.7 million.

"We're going to do more with less, and we have to do more with less," Acosta said in the hearing, according to Safety+Health Magazine. "We're going to focus the department on its core mission by making smart investments in programs that work. The budget makes hard choices, and they are hard, but they're responsible choices that have to be made. Americans want good and safe jobs. The department is here to support Americans' desire to gain and hold these jobs."

During the hearing, there was no word on how these cuts will affect businesses. An uncertainty in how workers within some industries will be trained, coupled with potential reductions in regulatory enforcement could potentially create more dangerous work sites.

The proposed changes were met with some backlash.

"You cannot do more with less - you can only do less with less. In my view, that's what this budget proposal will do: less for American workers" said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the subcommittee's ranking member during the hearing, according to Safety+Health Magazine.

Susan Harwood Training Grants are allocated based on specific topics that are solicited annually. They vary based on considerations likeworksite fatality statistics, special interests of public concern and potential regulation. Historically, grants have primarily gone toward capacity building, targeted topic training and training materials development.

Recipients are responsible for creating educational and training programs aimed at employers and employees in small businesses of fewer than 250 employees and in high-risk industries. Additionally, these efforts should focus on workers of young age or with limited English proficiency, as well as those who are generally vulnerable or underserved according to an OSHA press release.

The program gives grants to organizations and institutions across the country, which provide training for a wide range of industries. To find out more about grant recipients and the training they offer, contact a local OSHA regional office.