The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently gave the Associated Builders and Contractors thousands of dollars in federal grants to help fund safety awareness programs. One of the grants, a $147,538 Susan Harwood Training Grant, was awarded to ABC’s Trimmer Education Foundation on Sept. 22.
ABC’s Trimmer Education Foundation works with ABC chapters to provide training to members and non-members. With the grant funding, the foundation will focus on training topics including lead and silica exposure, trenching and excavation, and electrical, scaffold and steel erection safety.
On the state level, several ABC chapters received grants to fund safety awareness. The Central Texas ABC chapter received a $196,650 grant to help create training materials about safety and health hazards specific to residential construction. The materials will be available in print as well as CD, DVD and VHS. As a requirement of the grant, the Central Texas chapter will track the distribution of the training materials and report the information back to OSHA.
“We are very excited about receiving this grant,” said David Ford, chapter president for ABC Central Texas. “We are looking forward to developing materials and information for the residential construction industry. It is our hope that we can expand our service to this segment of the industry.”
The Mid Gulf Coast chapter of ABC, based in Mobile, Ala., received a $47,697 targeted renewal grant from OSHA that will help the chapter focus on safety training for Hispanic workers. The grant will support the newly formed Hispanic Occupational Safety Training Council, which was created as part of a partnership between the Mid Gulf Coast chapter, the Home Builders Association and the Mobile chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.
