News Release USDL: 95.258
Wednesday, July 5, 1995
Contact: Susan Hall Fleming, (202) 219-8151

Three Midwestern educational consortiums and the University of Washington will offer Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training courses as newly designated job safety and health education centers effective Sept. 1.

"By expanding our 'franchised' training centers to 12, we can significantly increase access to OSHA-developed educational courses, enabling additional employees and employers to learn how to make their workplaces safer and more healthful," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Joseph A. Dear.

"Through the education centers we are able to leverage OSHA resources, making our expertise more widely available in an efficient, cost-effective way. This approach furthers President Clinton's commitment to reinventing OSHA and builds on his conviction that it is possible for business to 'do right and do well'--combining concern for employee safety with profitability," Dear said.

The four new OSHA Training Institute (OTI) education centers include: a consortium composed of Northern Illinois University, the Construction Safety Council and the National Safety Council, which will offer training in the suburban Chicago area; a consortium including the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Safety Council and the University of Cincinnati, which will offer courses in St. Paul and Cincinnati; a joint project of Eastern Michigan University and the UAW, which will offer courses in Ypsilanti, Mich.; and the University of Washington, which will teach OSHA courses at its campus in Seattle.

Chosen from among 30 applicants, the organizations will join eight other similar sites to provide additional opportunities for the private sector and federal agencies to receive training on OSHA standards. OSHA is authorizing the centers for 13 months initially, but if the arrangement is successful, the agency may extend authorization for an additional two years.

Each of the four new centers will offer courses in general industry covering machinery and machine guarding standards; guides to voluntary compliance in safety and health; voluntary compliance in industrial hygiene; a collateral duty course for employees of other federal agencies; and a course for instructors on OSHA's construction standards. OSHA provides curriculum outlines, master copies of student handouts and assistance to the organizations in presenting and or answering questions on OSHA policy. The centers receive no federal funds, but charge their normal tuition and fees to participants to support the courses.

Current OSHA Training Institute Education Centers, also selected through a competitive process, include: Keene State College, Manchester, N.H.; Niagara County Community College, Lockport, N.Y.; West Virginia University/National Resource Center for Construction Safety and Health, Morgantown, W.Va.; Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta, Ga.; Texas Engineering Extension Service/Texas Safety Association, Arlington, Texas; Maple Woods Community College, Kansas City, Mo.; Red Rocks Community College/Trinidad State Junior College, Lakewood, Colo.; and the University of California, San Diego, Calif.