FY25-FY29 NIEHS WTP

Sustainable Workplace Alliance, Inc., Lake Wales FL

Investigators

Abstract

The Sustainable Workplace Alliance (SWA) and its alliance partners will provide model training to better protect workers, emergency responders and citizens that have been negatively impacted by pollution and emergency events. These populations are unlikely to know the inherent risks of the work they do, the hazards created by pollution, or hazardous materials, and the most effective ways to protect themselves from these harms. Special emphasis will be given to training workers in jobs that involve cleanup of the nation’s hazardous waste infrastructure. Based on historically high injury and fatality rates, SWA will focus on outreach to these workers and providing them with training that keeps them safe in the workplace. SWA and its alliance partners will focus on English and Spanish-speaking populations in Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. Additionally, we will service the U.S. Territories of the Pacific Islands, including American Samoa, Guam and Saipan. Trainees would typically be employed as remediation contractors, site demolition workers, debris removal and post-emergency cleanup workers; laborers who work with mold, asbestos, and lead-based paint; and abatement workers performing work at Superfund or brownfield sites. The first responder audience would include fire (career and volunteer), police and paramedics, with a specific focus on rural responders. Additionally, we are targeting citizen volunteer responders including Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members and responders with community-based and faith-based organizations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, worker populations in our geographic targets include over 1,900,000 workers in construction, 123,500 workers in hazardous waste and remediation jobs and nearly 191,000 workers serving as paid first responders, including fire, police and paramedics. This number does not include volunteer fire fighters and the many citizens who volunteer after an emergency event. Our model training program will include these often-forgotten groups of workers. Over five years, SWA will conduct 685 classes, train 6,715 students and cover 63,220 contact hours. This model training and outreach program is designed to inform workers how to recognize hazards and how to eliminate or reduce hazards through engineering controls, administrative controls or personal protective equipment. Students trained under this model program experience fewer workplace injuries and fatalities resulting in a positive effect on public health.