Overview of the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program Application Process - Transcript

Slide 1: Welcome
Welcome to the FY 2020 Susan Harwood Training Grant Program Web Presentation.

Slide 2: Overview
This presentation provides an overview of the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program and grant application process. Our goal is to assist applicants in understanding the program and provide technical assistance, guidance, and support to aid them in completing and submitting a complete application. Today's presentation includes a summary about OSHA, the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, the available funding opportunity announcements, the application and award process, and common errors to avoid when completing an application.

Slide 3: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or O S H A, was created in 1970 and is dedicated to the basic proposition that every worker has the right to be safe and healthy at work. Over the past 50 years, OSHA has made an impact in reducing workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. While OSHA is known for occupational safety and health standards and workplace inspections, OSHA also assists employers and workers through compliance assistance and cooperative programs. The Susan Harwood Training Grant program is one of these programs.

Slide 4: Susan Harwood Training Grant Program
Harwood grants assist non-profit organizations so they can develop training materials and provide free training to workers in small businesses about safety and health hazards in their workplaces. Our goal is to reach workers who are at-risk for injuries, illnesses, and even fatality, and who have limited access to occupational safety and health training. This includes workers in high-hazard industries, workers who are low literate or limited English speaking, and temporary and youth workers. Over the past 10 years, Harwood grantees have trained over (eight hundred and fifty thousand) 850,000 workers.

Slide 5: FY 2020 Funding
OSHA is currently accepting applications for FY 2020 Susan Harwood training grants. The grant performance period begins September 30, 2020, and ends in twelve months on September 30, 2021. Applications are accepted at www.grants.gov through July 20, 2020, and OSHA will announce the grant recipients in September 2020.

Slide 6: FY 2020 Harwood Funding Opportunities
OSHA is offering three funding opportunities this year. While each grant opportunity supports occupational safety and health training, they have different scopes and vary in specific requirements. Organizations may apply for more than one grant, but are limited to receiving only one award. If you apply for more than one grant opportunity, OSHA will consider each for an award, however, OSHA will make the final decision as to which one to fund, if any. Please note the funding opportunities do not imply all applicants will receive an award.

Slide 7: Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants are nonprofit organizations. They include community-based and faith-based organizations, employer associations, qualifying labor organizations, state or local institution of higher education, and tribal organizations. Please see Section 4 of the funding opportunity announcement for additional information and details.
Applicants must provide documentation showing their nonprofit status, generally a readable copy of their IRS tax exemption determination letter. Native tribal entities must provide a similar type of document stating their tax-exempt status. State and local universities and colleges are exempt from this requirement.

Slide 8: Ineligible Applicants
Ineligible applicants include individuals, for profit organizations, 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations, Federal, State, or local government agencies, and FY 2019 Harwood grantees with more than a 90-day time extension to their grant.

Slide 9: Targeted Topic Training SHTG-FY-20-01
The first of the funding opportunities is for Targeted Topic Training grants. This category is a one-year grant focused on disseminating free safety and health training to a significant number of eligible workers and employers on a specified topic. Applicants must propose to conduct training on only one of the training topics listed in the funding opportunity instructions. Grantees are not required to develop new materials, but may if they desire. Grantees may use or revise existing Harwood materials developed by previous grantees. These materials may be downloaded from the Harwood website. Grantees must evaluate their training for effectiveness, assess the trainee's knowledge, and follow OSHA's meeting and reporting requirements.

Slide 10: Training and Educational Materials Development SHTG-FY-20-02
Training and Educational Materials Development grants used to be part of the Targeted Topic Training category. OSHA separated these grants into their own category to encourage the development of new, high-quality training materials useful to a wide range of trainers and audiences. Applicants may propose to develop new training materials on one of the topics listed in the funding opportunity instructions, or may propose developing materials on a special emphasis or emerging industry topic. Grantees must conduct one pilot training to evaluate their new materials, and are required to provide free access to the materials on their website to anyone for three years after the grant ends.

Slide 11: Capacity Building Grants SHTG-FY-20-03
Capacity building grants have been around for 10 years and are designed to develop and expand an organization's ability to provide quality training on their own and become self-sufficient after the capacity building period ends. There are two types of capacity building grants, pilot and developmental.

Slide 12: Capacity Building Pilot SHTG-FY-20-03
Capacity Building Pilot grants are for organizations who want to test their capacity building idea. This one-year award requires the applicant to develop a capacity building plan and conduct a pilot training to assess their ability to expand their training program.

Slide 13: Capacity Building Developmental SHTG-FY-20-03
Capacity Building Developmental grants are for organizations that have a solid background with providing training, but want to develop a training program for their organization. Developmental grantees meeting their annual program goals are eligible for up to three follow-on grants. This allows several years for the grantee to develop and build their new training capacity.
The capacity building grantee must provide a detailed four-year plan, where each year builds up to meeting their goal of a new training program. They must train a substantial number of new workers and employers each year and track the trainees to assess the impact of the training on the worker's safety and health knowledge and attitude. After four capacity building years, the organization is expected to sustain the training program without additional grant funds. This means the organization would be ineligible for another capacity-building grant for the same training program they developed under the previous capacity building grants.

Slide 14: Which Grant Opportunity Do You Choose?
Which grant opportunity is best for your organization? All Harwood grants require the grantee to do training or develop training materials related to occupational safety and health. Read each funding opportunity synopsis to find out about each grant category. Then read the entire funding opportunity instructions to learn about the grant requirements. Select the funding opportunity that aligns with your training goals.
If you want to conduct training on an OSHA specified topic – apply for a Targeted Topic grant.
If you want to develop classroom-quality training materials – apply for a Training and Educational Materials Development grant.
If you want to expand your organization's ability to provide occupational safety and health training, look at the Capacity Building grant opportunity.

Slide 15: How do you apply for a Grant?
You must complete several steps before you can apply for a grant. Obtain a Dun and Bradstreet "DUNS" number, register with the System for Awards Management (SAM), and register with Grants.gov.

Slide 16: D-U-N-S Number
The DUNS number is used to identify and access information on businesses, including a company's Dun & Bradstreet business credit file. You will need a DUNS number to register with SAM.gov. If you do not have a DUNS number, you can request one by telephone or through their website. It takes 1 – 2 business days to receive a DUNS number.

Slide 17: SAM.gov
The System for Award Management, or SAM, is a government-wide portal of registered businesses and organizations who wish to conduct business with the federal government and receive federal funds including grants. Organizations cannot receive federal grant funds if they do not have an active SAM account.
You need a current and active SAM account at the time of application and for the entire award period. Complete the SAM registration yourself and do not rely on other third parties to do it for you. Registering with SAM is free. If you do not have an active SAM account, start the registration process now! Go to SAM.gov and use the Getting Started link. It can take up to seven weeks to complete a new registration. If you are already registered, make sure you review and update your SAM's account annually. If your SAM account is inactive, your application cannot be submitted, and OSHA cannot consider it for an award. Remember there is no cost to register or use SAM.gov.

Slide 18: SAM.gov Registration
To complete a SAM.gov registration, you need the following information:
Your DUNS number, legal business name, organization name and physical address; and employer/tax identification number (as shown on IRS tax documents). To receive grant funds, you need to provide your bank account, bank routing number, and type of bank account for Electronic Funds Transfers; and most importantly, you will need to send a notarized letter to SAM that formally appoints an Entity Administrator for your organization.

Slide 19: SAM.gov Notarized Appointment Letter
Remember; begin the SAM registration process early because there are several important pieces of information that must be provided to register with SAM.gov. This information includes providing SAM with a notarized Entity Administrator appointment letter. It can take 2-7 weeks after SAM receives the notarized appointment letter before the SAM registration process is complete. Templates for writing the required appointment letter are located at GSA's Federal Service Desk website. Again, if you do not have an active account with SAM, your application will not be accepted and you cannot be considered for an award.

Slide 20: Grants.gov Registration
You must also register with Grants.gov. Grants.gov is the sole application portal for OSHA's Susan Harwood funding opportunities. If you have not done so, it is important to register with Grants.gov as soon as possible. Grants.gov will guide you through the registration process, and direct you to other governmental registration sites as needed. If you are registered with Grants.gov, your password expires after 60 days, and if you have not accessed Grants.gov within a year, your account will become inactive.

Slide 21: Apply for a Federal Grant at Grants.gov
Remember, you must use Grants.gov to submit your application.

Slide 22: Finding a Funding Opportunity
To begin the grant application process, you must find the funding opportunity number on Grants.gov. You can find a link to the funding opportunity by searching Grants.gov using the funding opportunity number or a key word such as Harwood, OSHA, or DOL.

Slide 23: Finding OSHA's Application Instructions
Before applying for a grant, make sure you access the correct funding opportunity number. Then completely read the instructions for that funding opportunity. The instructions contain valuable information for completing your application. Find the instructions from the View Grant Opportunity screen on Grants.gov. Select the Package tab, then select the Action's Preview link, and then select the Download Instructions link.

Slide 24: How to Apply for a Grant at Grants.gov
Follow Grants.gov's directions for using the Workspace and attaching the required documents.
Questions about using Grants.gov must be directed to Grants.gov Support.

Slide 25: Grants.gov Support
Grants.gov is operated by the Department of Health and Human Services, not OSHA. Contact Grants.gov Support or use their website to resolve your issues. Grants.gov has instructional videos to assist you as well. All questions regarding Grants.gov access and support must be directed to their help support desk.

Slide 26: Application Attachments Formatting Requirements
Make sure the attachments to your application meets the criteria stated in the funding opportunity instructions. OSHA must be able to open your attached documents to review them.
Attach Microsoft Office or Adobe PDF documents only.
Make the attached documents accessible; do not locks or password protect the documents.
Do not use watermarks.
Format the documents so they will print on 8 1/2 by 11 paper with 1-inch margins.
Follow the instructions regarding the number of pages, paragraph spacing, and font size.
Use file names for your documents that identify you and what the document is.
Do not exceed 30 characters when creating the file name.
If your application does not follow these requirements, it will not be considered viable.

Slide 27: Submit a Complete Application
Your application will consist of documents you will fill out at Grants.gov, and documents you will attach to the application. OSHA has provided a checklist in the funding opportunity instructions for you to use before you finalize your application. This will help you make sure you are not missing required information. It is a good idea to organize your application based on the checklist. Be sure to follow Grants.gov's directions for attaching the required documents.

Slide 28: Fixing Errors on Applications already submitted in Grants.gov
Once you submit your application at Grants.gov, it cannot be changed. Do not try to submit correction pages to a submitted application at Grants.gov. The only way to make corrections to your application is to submit a new, revised application. While both the initial and the revised applications will be sent to OSHA, OSHA will review the newest application only.

Slide 29: Official Submission Date and Time Stamp
Grants.gov electronically dates and time stamps your application. This is the official record for timely submission of your application. Applications submitted after the closing time of the funding opportunity will not be sent to OSHA, even if it is only seconds late. We recommend submitting your application as early as possible.

Slide 30: Viable Applications
Only viable applications will be considered for a grant award. Viable applications are submitted at Grants.gov before the application deadline. A viable application is validated by Grants.gov, submitted under the correct funding opportunity number, and submitted by an eligible nonprofit organization. A viable application includes all the required forms and documents including a valid, readable proof of nonprofit status, and a proposal addressing the funding opportunity program requirements.

Slide 31: Non-Viable Applications No Funding Consideration
Non-viable applications will not be reviewed by OSHA, or given further consideration. Applications are deemed non-viable for several reasons including failing Grants.gov's checks and validations. Other reasons include submitting the application after the funding opportunity due date and time, the application is incomplete and missing required forms and documents, or the proposal does not align with the funding opportunity requirements such as proposing training on non-OSHA identified topics, OSHA Training Institute or Outreach courses, or for certification programs. A full list of application restrictions is in the funding opportunity instructions appendices.

Slide 32: Grant Budget
How you spend your grant award is important. Expenditures must relate to approved program activities, mainly training workers. OSHA reviews applicants' proposed budgets. The budget is an evaluation factor in the award selection process. Please ensure your budget is complete and accurate. Incomplete and/or inaccurate budgets impact award decisions.
You must identify which costs are associated with program/training and which costs are administrative. Administrative costs include both direct and all indirect costs. No grant proposal should have zero dollars for administrative costs because of the program's reporting requirements. Additionally, administrative costs may not exceed 25% of the total budget. Remember, the grant funds are to be used for training workers.

Slide 33: Budget Categories
This is an example of one of the financial documents you will completed at Grants.gov. You must provide separate attachments mirroring the cost categories of this SF424A form. These attachments must provide specific details and justifications for each cost category. Remember the detailed budget and justification must match the appropriate category totals on the SF424A.

Slide 34: Prohibited Grant Costs
There are funding allocation restrictions and guidelines stated in the funding opportunity instructions. Some common prohibited costs are: Training on non-OSHA topics; duplicating other OSHA training such as OTI Education Center or OSHA Outreach courses; conducting certification training; paying for staff development; compensating trainee including stipends, incentives, and lost wages; purchasing unauthorized items; providing food and beverages at trainings, and reimbursing pre-award costs such as for grant writing.
Please review the funding opportunity instructions' appendices so you do not include unauthorized costs to your budget proposal.

Slide 35: Avoid Common Errors
Avoid common errors. Read the funding opportunity instructions. Some of the common errors to avoid include applying under the wrong funding opportunity number; attaching documents to the application that cannot be opened; submitting an incomplete application; failing to provide your proof of nonprofit status; proposing training on OSHA 10 or 30-hour Outreach courses; Targeted Topic or Training and Educational Materials applicants selecting more than one topic; the cost to train workers or the trainee contact hours exceeding the funding opportunity allowance; and requesting fund for unauthorized costs or activities.

Slide 36: Application Review and Award Process
An organization is limited to one award per year. The criteria OSHA uses to review the applications is stated in the funding opportunity instructions. OSHA reviews each viable application and evaluates the technical and budget aspects of the proposal. OSHA's Assistant Secretary makes the final award selections. Selected applicants will be notified and asked to accept the award. Only after the award is accepted will OSHA obligate the grant funds.

Slide 37: Proposals that are Ineligible for an Award
Remember to read the funding opportunity instructions for valuable information on developing your proposal. Here are a few reasons applicants may not get an award:
The applicant is not eligible to receive an award. The applicant plans to train ineligible workers or conduct unauthorized training. The applicant plans to contract with others to complete most of the grant activities. The applicant plans to use grant funds for unauthorized purchases. The technical proposal or work plan is vague or lacks details.

Slide 38: Vague Applications
Proposals, which are missing information or are vague, impact award decisions. The funding opportunity announcements require an appropriate amount of detail and specificity on how the applicant will accomplish their work plan. Make sure you address these questions in your proposal:
How will you accomplish what you want to do?
What is the training topic?
What training materials will be used?
Who is the training audience?
How will they be recruited?
How will the training be evaluated?
How will the change in the trainees' knowledge be assessed?
How are grant funds being spent?

Slide 39: Reminders!
Here are some important reminders:
Get your DUNS numbers.
Register early with SAM.gov and Grants.gov.
Thoroughly read the funding opportunity instructions, follow their guidance, and address all requirements in your application.
Do not wait until the deadline to submit your application.
Be sure to check the status of your submitted grant application at Grants.gov.

Slide 40: Websites
Use these websites. Ensure your SAM registration is active. Submit your grant application at Grants.gov. Read about the Susan Harwood Training Grant program and find training materials developed by previous grantees.

Slide 41: Questions
If you have any questions regarding the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program or the funding opportunity announcements, please contact the Harwood Grants Coordinator by email at HarwoodGrants@dol.gov, or telephone 847-725-7805. This is for questions you have about the Harwood grant program and the funding opportunities only.
If you need technical support, or have questions about submitting your application at Grants.gov, you will need to contact Grants.gov support by email or telephone.

Slide 42: OSHA Slide
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