LANSING, Mich.—The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) awarded $870,000 in training grants to 20 nonprofit organizations statewide to strengthen worker safety and health. The annual MIOSHA Consultation Education and Training (CET) grants are awarded for the development and implementation of safety and health training and services, specifically to help support small and medium-sized businesses.
“It is our mission to make Michigan a place where all people, businesses and communities have the economic means and personal freedoms to reach their full potential, and that work includes providing resources to protect Michigan workers and support businesses with healthy and safe workplaces,” said LEO Deputy Director or Labor Sean Egan. “These grants help ensure businesses across the state can provide critical training and services that will protect workers across a wide range of industries.”
Projects that received a training grant include targeted workplace health and safety training in high-hazard industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, training for silica exposure control, as well as mental health awareness training for the construction industry.
"Every grantee plays an important role in developing and expanding occupational safety and health training,” said MIOSHA Director Bart Pickelman. “Offering mental health awareness in addition to traditional workplace safety and health training programs is a perfect example of how employer groups, labor organizations and other nonprofits are adapting their exemplary safety and health training programs to meet the needs of their workforce.”
Wayne State University and the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA) will use their CET grants to provide mental health awareness training for the construction industry, which has one of the highest rates of suicides among all occupations — four times higher than the general population
Thanks to the MIOSHA grants, MITA, a statewide construction trade association representing over 500 Michigan companies, will implement a new suicide prevention program to train over 2,000 employees who work on Michigan roads, bridges and underground utility systems.
“MITA is pleased to bring the important topic of suicide prevention to the construction industry with the support of a recent MIOSHA Grant award. Our hope at MITA is to create an atmosphere on construction sites where important cues are recognized so that mental health issues are identified and dealt with in a positive manner with positive outcomes,” said MITA Executive Vice President Rob Coppersmith.
Grant awardees include:
- AFL-CIO of Michigan
- Alpena Community College
- Associated General Contractors of Michigan
- Bay College
- Center for Workplace Violence Prevention, Inc.
- Corewell Health Lakeland Hospitals
- Eastern Michigan University Organization for Risk Reduction
- Emergency Services Rescue Training
- Great Lakes Safety Training Center
- Incompass Michigan
- Lawrence Technological University
- Michigan Association of Chiropractors
- Michigan Green Industry Association (MGIA)
- Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA)
- Michigan State University
- Parents for Student Safety Employment Standards (PASSES)
- Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWSDU)
- United Auto Workers (UAW)
- University of Michigan Center for Ergonomics
- Wayne State University
For more information about MIOSHA, visit Michigan.gov/miosha.
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