Oregon OSHA Opens Grant Applications for Workplace Safety Training Projects

SALEM, Ore. - Oregon OSHA is accepting grant applications for projects designed to improve workplace safety and health training, with an emphasis on workers in high-hazard industries.

Applications for the Occupational Safety and Health Education and Training Grant Program are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.

The program provides funding to nonprofit organizations, labor and employer associations, and educational institutions that have ideas for new or substantially expanded safety education projects.

Oregon OSHA said it is especially interested in projects that directly engage workers and provide practical information about workplace hazards. Proposed projects could include training videos, safety publications, multimedia materials, workshops, or educational resources focused on a particular job or work process.

Priority industries include:

• Forestry
• Construction
• Agriculture
• Other industries with significant workplace hazards

Applications may focus on reducing or eliminating a specific hazard associated with a job task or work process.

Projects that are limited to research, support an ongoing activity, or involve training already required by law are not eligible. Oregon OSHA is also looking for original ideas rather than projects that repeat safety concerns or training topics that have already been fully addressed.

Materials created through the program cannot be sold for profit and must be made available to the public. Depending on the project, completed materials may be placed online or added to the Oregon OSHA Resource Center.

Past grant-funded projects have included Spanish translations of pesticide labels used in reforestation, construction industry toolbox talks about suicide prevention, virtual reality infection-control training for health care workers, logging equipment safety guidelines, and programs to prevent ergonomic injuries among nurses.

Other projects have addressed exposure to silica, lead, asbestos and excessive noise in construction. Spanish-language materials have also been developed to help forest workers recognize and prevent heat-related illness.

The Oregon Legislature created the grant program in 1990. Funding recommendations are made by Oregon OSHA’s Safe Employment Education and Training Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from business, labor and government.

Organizations interested in applying can find application materials through Oregon OSHA’s website. Questions may be directed to Theodore “Ted” Bunch at 971-375-8001 or theodore.bunch@dcbs.oregon.gov.