North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center: HST

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The HST Program prepares workers with knowledge and expertise to perform job responsibilities and avoid exposure to occupational hazardous substances. To accomplish this mission, the HST design focuses on protecting workers from these exposures and uses the interdisciplinary nature of work roles and responsibilities to identify curriculum. Courses are attended and taught by faculty, consultants, and practitioners of IH, Safety, OHN, OM, Environmental Health, and HazMat disciplines with direct programmatic oversight. The rationale is that workers require HST training for safety and regulatory compliance. HST uses job competencies to develop comprehensive and effective courses that protect public and private sector employees and communities. Courses and objectives are developed based on HST needs assessments of NC OSHERC, the two other Regional ERCs (Deep South and Sunshine), and collaborating professional and governmental organizations. Objectives include: 1) Train at least 450 people per year; 2) Increase marketing to HST target audiences by 50% through outreach, advertising, and assisting agencies involved with clean-up and remediation; 3) Increase minority enrollment by 3% for each of 3 years; 4) Analyze and synthesize needs assessment to identify HST course offerings and new development; 5) Develop 3 distance learning HST courses in the next 3 years based primarily on highest ratings from HST needs assessment data. HST provides multi-level courses, from awareness to advanced certification review (4-hr to 5-days), through short courses onsite, off-site contract courses, and at conferences in the region, collaborating with the two regional ERCs (Deep South and Sunshine). The NORA Interdisciplinary series provides web-based seminars quarterly with continuing education credits that include HST topics. HST relevance is that public health and safety in the workforce and community is improved through compliance with regulatory requirements, increased knowledge and skills demonstrated by completing coursework and transferring this to their workplace and communities. Outreach to state and local agencies provides opportunity to present more HST offerings that support regional HST needs. HST is marketed and presented to those working with hazardous substances, especially local and state government employees and minorities, and provides tuition waivers for those students and groups with limited funds.