SUSAN HARWOOD TRAINING GRANTS PROGRAM, CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS

Grant: Susan Harwood Training Grants Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Labor
Division: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Deadline: This competition is closed. The deadline was August 10, 2012.

Description: The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program provides funds to develop training materials and to train workers and/or employers to recognize, avoid, abate and prevent safety and health hazards in their workplaces and provide related assistance. The program emphasizes six areas:

• Training workers and/or employers about high risk activities or hazards identified by OSHA through the U.S. Department of Labor's Strategic Plan, or as part of an OSHA special emphasis program or other OSHA priorities.
• Educating workers on their rights and educating employers on their responsibilities under the OSH Act.
• Educating workers and/or employers in small businesses. For purposes of this grant program, a small business is one with 250 or fewer employees.
• Training workers and/or employers about new OSHA standards.
• Training at-risk and/or low-literacy worker populations.
• Providing technical assistance to employers and workers.

OSHA will accept applications for Capacity Building grants and Targeted Topic grants. For information about Targeted Topic grants, see here.

Capacity Building grants are for longer-term grants that build safety and health competency. Applications for Capacity Building grants should focus on developing and/or expanding the capacity of the applicant organization to provide safety and health training, education and related assistance to the targeted audiences listed below. Organizations will be expected to institutionalize organizational capacity to provide safety and health training, education and related assistance services in their organizations to assist workers and employers on an ongoing basis and to ensure that services will continue after the grant ends. There are two types of Capacity Building grants:

• Developmental grants support and assist organizations who through their past activities have established a capability to provide occupational safety and health training, education, materials development and/or technical assistance. Applicants will be expected to conduct a significant number of training programs addressing occupational safety and health hazards identified in their needs assessment. Applicants are strongly encouraged to develop educational materials and to provide technical assistance. Each grant recipient must develop a comprehensive plan for becoming a center of safety and health competence and financially self-sufficient within the three to four years an organization needs to build capacity. Developmental grants will be funded for a 12-month period and may be eligible for additional 12-month follow-on grants.
• Pilot grants are intended to assist organizations able to demonstrate a potential for meeting the objectives of this program but hat need to assess capabilities, needs and priorities and to formulate objectives before moving forward into developing a full-scale program. Recipients of Pilot grants will be required to initiate limited program operations during the 12-month period. The program operations should be small-scale or pilot projects, used to complement the organization's planning and pilot activities. Upon successful completion of its planning and pilot activities, an organization may apply for a Developmental grant in the next fiscal cycle they are offered. Pilot grants are not eligible for follow-on grants.

Targeted audiences:

• Small businesses (fewer than 250 employees).
• New businesses.
• Non-English speaking/limited English proficiency workers.
• Non-literate and low literacy workers.
• Young workers.
• Minority and other hard-to-reach workers.
• Workers in high-hazard industries and industries with high fatality rates.

Training for employees should be conducted in both a language and vocabulary that the employees can understand. Special consideration will be given to grant proposals that include training materials and training programs for non-English speaking/limited English proficiency workers.

Please note, the current solicitation announces the availability of funds for Development grants only. Preference will be given to organizations that have recently successfully completed an occupational safety and health training Pilot grant.

Fit for public broadcasting: This is a workforce training initiative that could benefit from public broadcasting's experience in adult education and workforce development. Successful projects develop train-the-trainer models and successfully target underserved communities. The Targeted Topic grants awarded from this same U.S. Department of Labor program fund, more specifically, the development of training and educational materials. Public media stations are eligible to apply for this grant, but this is also an opportunity to form partnerships with community labor organizations.

Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations, including qualifying trade associations, labor unions, and community-based and faith-based organizations, that are not an agency of State or local government, are eligible to apply. State and local government supported institutions of higher education are also eligible to apply. Eligible organizations can apply independently for funding or in partnership with other eligible organizations, but the lead organization must be identified.

Anticipated funding: Approximately $1.1 million is available under this program for Development grants only. The maximum funding level for Developmental grants is not to exceed $140,000 per 12-month project performance period.

How to apply: Prior to submission, all applicants are encouraged to submit their questions to Kimberly Mason, Lead Program Analyst, or Jim Barnes, Director of the Office of Training Education and Administration, at 847-759-7700 or by email.

All applications must be submitted through Grants.gov. Online submission requires registration, a process that usually takes three to five business days but can take as long as four weeks. Be sure to visit Grants.gov and begin registering well in advance of the deadline.

Resources: 
Program notice
Program website
View the list of 2011 grantees
Helpful Tips for Improving Your Susan Harwood Grant Application