19 MIOSHA grants help train workers

October 9, 2012 – Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) Deputy Director Rob Nederhood announced today the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) has awarded 19 Consultation Education and Training (CET) Grants for Fiscal Year 2013 totaling $865,000 to promote worker safety and health across the state.  The MIOSHA program is a LARA agency.

“We are pleased to expand the reach of the MIOSHA program by offering this additional investment to protect the safety and health of Michigan’s working men and women,” said Nederhood.  “Employers who create a safe and healthy working environment protect their most valuable asset – their workers.”

The Consultation Education and Training (CET) Division provides outreach services to employers in a variety of formats.  The MIOSHA CET Grant Program provides additional options for safety and health education and training to employers and employees.  Most of the grants focus on the performance goals identified in the FY 2009 – 2013 MIOSHA Strategic Plan, with a particular emphasis on hazard recognition and prevention for high-hazard industries.

The 19 statewide projects will include a wide range of training activities and proficiency levels, and many will offer interactive computer-based training modules.  Training topics include:  machine rescue operations; workplace violence prevention; healthcare and long-term care hazards; asbestos awareness; ergonomics; youth safety; fall protection; road construction; and construction site walkthroughs.

“Protecting workers is the mission of the MIOSHA program,” said MIOSHA Director Martha Yoder.  “Working collaboratively with the CET Grantees, we can provide Michigan employers and workers with creative and powerful tools to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.”

CET grants are awarded on a competitive basis to nonprofit organizations, such as universities, management/employer groups, labor/employee organizations, hospitals and service agencies.  Grant recipients must detail in their proposals how their efforts will meet specific objectives.

Grant recipients file quarterly activity and financial reports with MIOSHA to ensure compliance with CET Grant reporting requirements.  MIOSHA representatives monitor the proposal programs and observe on-site each program’s operations.

For many years, the CET Grants have increased the awareness of safety in the workplace.  The FY 2013 CET Grants continue MIOSHA’s commitment to greater training of safety practices and fewer workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.  Information on the CET Grant Program is available on the MIOSHA website at www.michigan.gov/mioshagrants.

FY 2013 Consultation Education and Training (CET) Grant Projects

Alpena Community College will focus on several Northeast Michigan counties and will deliver safety and occupational health training in high-hazard industries, including four high-hazard industries identified in MIOSHA’s strategic plan.  Training will be targeted to smaller establishments, which will include adult foster care homes and lumber mills.  For more information contact Jim Makowske at 989.358.7301 or at makowskj@alpenacc.edu.

Associated General Contractors (AGC) will offer on-site mobile presentations to individual contractors, their employees and subcontractors.  This proposal will provide statewide training on both safety and health topics through the newly created Construction Safety and Health Outreach Training program (CSHOT).  They will also offer “day long” advance training seminars statewide to promote safety and health management systems and to offer a review of contractor’s accident prevention programs to provide recommendations for improvement.  For more information contact Pete Anderson at 517.371.1550 or at panderson@agcmichigan.org.

 

Center for Workplace Violence Prevention will help Michigan employers and employees reduce the vulnerability and impact to violence.  They will conduct training and disseminate informational materials statewide regarding developing workplace violence prevention/threat assessment programs, personal safety during an incident, and developing a robbery/assault recovery toolkit.  They will also produce a robbery response DVD.  The targeted audience of this training will include very small businesses as well as taxi companies, gas stations, and convenience stores.  For more information, please contact Ken Wolf or Marilyn Knight at 248.347.3300 or KWolfPhD@aol.com.

Bay de Noc Community College will provide training that will include conducting a job analysis, identifying hazards, and implementing ways to eliminate the hazards in the various aspects of the wood products industry.  Specific training such as machinery requirements, logging operations, chainsaw safety cutting techniques and occupational noise exposure will be covered as well.  For more information contact Renee Lundberg at 906.217.4107 or lundberr@baycollege.edu.

Construction Association of Michigan (CAM) will develop and deliver safety and health training focusing on the “The Big Four” causes of fatalities and effective Safety and Health Management Systems.  “The Big Four” includes Falls, Caught-In, Struck By, and Electrocutions.  This project will identify and work mainly with construction companies with fewer than 100 employees, in addition to those in the Detroit Metropolitan Area.  For more information contact Tracy Alfonsi at 248.972.1141 or at alfonsi@cam-online.com.

Eastern Michigan University (EMU) will provide an 8-hour comprehensive Trenching and Excavation Qualified Person program to workers, supervisors and equipment operators employed in small construction and maintenance businesses.  This training will cover recognition and avoidance of excavation hazards and performance in the role of Qualified Person for trenching, excavation and shoring at jobsites.  For more information contact Barbara Hopkins at 734.487.6972 or bhopkins@emich.edu.

Lansing Area Safety Council (LASC) will provide training resources that will be readily available to all fire departments throughout Michigan.  The project will develop and implement an online repository of training resources, best practices, and standard operating procedures regarding MIOSHA standards, as well as a training data management system.  Resources will be reinforced with train-the-trainer opportunities for smaller departments that currently do not have designated training officers.  For more information contact Susan Carter at 517.394.4614 or carter@safetycouncil.org.

Michigan AFL-CIO will serve both employers and employees at nursing and residential care facilities.  Its focus will be providing the basic principles of workplace safety and health, identifying and remediating hazards in the workplace, and avoiding work-related accidents.  Technical assistance will also be provided to help facilities establish safety and health management systems and safety committees.  For more information contact Derrick Quinney at 517.372.0784 or 517.449.1514 or dquinney@miaflcio.org.

Michigan Association of Chiropractors (MAC) will use the “WorkSafe” program to address high injury and illness rates in several industries, including nursing and residential care, hospitals, and manufacturing.  A facility walk-through will be conducted to observe job tasks and the work environment.  After identifying possible safety issues, the findings will be presented to the employer and a customized presentation given to staff regarding back safety and ergonomics.  For more information contact Joe Ross or Kathy Schaefer at 517.333.3133, ext. 3, or MACWorkSafe@Yahoo.com.

Michigan Association of Rehabilitation Organizations (MARO) will serve workers with physical and/or mental disabilities or other barriers to community inclusion.  A majority of these employees work in human service, industrial, transportation and residential service industries, where workplace safety training is a critical component that must be conveyed in a language appropriate to this diverse audience.  Training will be presented on-site as a customized, web-based program that utilizes techniques that promote retention by individuals.  For more information contact Todd Culver at 517.484.5588 or tculver@maro.org.

Michigan Farm Bureau will introduce a Safety and Health Management System for Agriculture that will be designed to assist in reducing the number of agricultural fatalities, illnesses and injuries.  It will target training to agricultural and related employers, managers and service providers and will include several voluntary on-site facility reviews from which training data will be compiled.  Statewide training will then be held via seminars, presentations, publications and media and will include such topics as equipment operation, grain bins and other confined spaces.  An outreach to the food manufacturing industry will also be offered to provide Confined Space training to that industry as well.  For more information contact Craig Anderson at 517.323.7000, ext. 2311 or canderso@michfb.com.

Michigan Green Industry Association (MGIA) will provide training to small employers and employees from landscape services and other related green industries, as well as provide a two-day progressive clinic to be held at a local convention.  This clinic will include fundamentals such as basic technical skills training for performing tree work, best management practices, industry standards and MIOSHA standards relevant to tree care operations, including MIOSHA Standard Part 53, Tree Trimming and Removal.  For more information contact Karla J. Trosen at 248.646.4992 or karla@landscape.org.

Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA) will provide a “Big 4” program designed to reduce the number of worker fatalities by adopting a focused inspection approach to the Heavy Construction industry.  The inspections will focus on the four hazardous areas most likely to cause fatalities:  Falls, Electrocution, Struck by and Crushed By/Caught Between.  This program will serve employers and employees of small companies (100 or less) and will include on-site visits and training.  For more information contact Patrick Brown at 517.347.8336 or patrickbrown@mi-ita.com.

Michigan Safety Consortium (MSC) will continue to produce a “MIOSHA Walkthrough for Construction” CD-ROM.  This CD will be a high-end, interactive training tool that makes safety and health training interesting and memorable.  It will be distributed to more than 120,000 construction companies throughout Michigan.  For more information contact Susan Carter at 517.394.4614 or carter@safetycouncil.org.

North Central Michigan College (NCMC) will provide ergonomics training in healthcare to employers and employees in seven remote counties.  The training will consist of on-site safety training to nursing and residential care facilities.  The majority of these establishments employee less than 100 employees and are located in sparsely populated areas.  These training programs will be hands-on, giving learners multiple ways to understand, practice and apply the ergonomic safety techniques presented.  For more information contact Thomas Nathe at 231.348.6613 or tnathe@ncmich.edu.

Parents for Student Safety Employment Standards (PASSES) works with high schools to provide student training and web-based digital training.  PASSES teaches teens, entry-level workers, and school personnel in a variety of hazardous industries, including construction, healthcare, general merchandizing’ food and beverage, and retail.  PASSES will also provide “safety team leaders” extended training over three years on safety fundamentals such PPE, adolescent labor laws, safe chemical handling, and proper lifting.  For more information contact Donna Weaver at 313.910.6531 or passessedge@live.com.

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) will combine hazard-specific training programs and dissemination of educational materials with technical assistance and support to build stronger safety programs at food and beverage processing facilities across the state.  They have also implemented a new initiative to reach young high school age workers both at the jobsite and at the high school level and will offer training at both types of locations.  For more information contact Randy Belliel at 616.241.4357 or rbelliel@rwdsu.org.

United Auto Workers (UAW) will focus on priority audiences including small establishments, establishments with a higher total recordable case rate than Michigan’s private industry rate, and those with higher incidence rates for particular injuries.  Training will include hazard recognition and control, developing and conducting a joint health and management safety committee, as well as creating or improving a safety and health management system.  For more information contact Steve Shepard at 313.962.5563 or at stshepard@uaw.net.

University of Michigan Center for Ergonomics will provide guidance for safety and ergonomic program development, customized on-site introductory ergonomics training seminars, ergonomics technical assistance, and web-based tools for assistance with ergonomic analyses.  These will be offered to companies on MIOSHA’s high-hazard list, particularly those with a high incidence of musculoskeletal disorders.  Employers and employees from both manufacturing and service sectors will be represented.  For more information contact Sheryl Ulin at 734.763.0133 or sherylul@umich.edu.