"The Historically Black Colleges/Universities and Communities Worker Health and Safety Training Program"

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Dillard University Deep South Center for Environmental Justice hazardous Waste Worker Training Center provides training to hazardous material and waster workers who may perform jobs covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standards and assist employers with complying with OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.120. The Consortium's goal is unique in that its emphasis is on underserved populations in both its Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP) and its Environmental Careers Worker Training Program (ECWTP). The proposed HWWTP component has been designed to provide model occupational safety and health training for workers who are or may be engaged in activities related to hazardous waste removal, containment or chemical response. The emphasis however, is on servicing workers of entities where health and safety training is critical to the worker's wellbeing and possibly the safety and health of the public, but due to circumstances beyond the individual worker's control, (s)he is unlikely to receive sufficient training at either the quality or quantity needed to ensure safety and health. Such entities include emergency responders and city workers in small municipalities and or cities where budgeting restraints or working conditions (such as no release time), greatly reduces or eliminates the possibility of training. Volunteer fire departments and small county police forces, city health department employees, port authority workers and mosquito control division employees are examples of workers the Consortium has trained. Additionally, HBCUs with smaller budgets have been shown to receive some of the highest fines for non-compliance with applicable regulations. Small minority and disadvantaged businesses typically lack the capital to participate in high cost compliance training programs. The Consortium has targeted these entities for the proposed HWWT program. The proposed ECWTP component has been designed to deliver comprehensive worker training to increase the number of underrepresented and disadvantaged minority adults employed in the fields of environmental restoration, hazardous materials and construction. The goals for this program are: (1) to serve underrepresented and disadvantaged adults living near hazardous waste and or contaminated property at risk of exposure to ambient hazards; and also (2) to provide additional pre-employment services that are inclusive of basic skills (i.e. study skills, math, reading, life skils) to increase program retention and completion; and (3) to successfully place trainers in jobs in the environmental restoration and construction fields. The added value of this training is not just that it increases sustainable employment opportunities for residents of beleaguered communities engulfed in situations of poverty and pollution, but that by investing in these particular individuals promotes economic stability, addresses health disparities and advances environmental justice.