OSHA Training to Enhance Federal Worker Safety

The Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (OSHA) has scheduled a three-day training event for federal agency staff responsible for keeping federal workers safe and healthy on the job.

The OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs collaborated on developing a daily series of seminars that address ergonomics issues, hazard communication focused on the global harmonizing system, indoor air quality and workplace violence, among other topics. OSHA developed this training event to ensure that federal workplaces have safety programs equal to those in the private sector.

Federal agencies reported 53 federal worker deaths in fiscal 2010. Additionally, federal workers filed more than 30,000 workers’ compensation claims for injuries that resulted in lost time. This training event is intended to help federal managers implement and manage their injury and illness prevention programs which include finding and fixing workplace hazards.

The event will be held July 31 - Aug. 2, 2012, at the OSHA Training Institute, 2020 South Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights, Ill. Registration will be open until July 24, 2012. Students can access registration forms, course descriptions and other details at www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fedweek_fy12.html. Completed registration forms must be emailed to OTI Student Services at oti.registration@dol.gov.

Government agency personnel will not be charged tuition or fees to attend the training courses. However, Department of Labor regulations require OSHA to charge tuition to private sector attendees and federal government contractors.

The OTI provides training and education in occupational safety and health for federal and state compliance officers, state consultants, other federal agency personnel, and the private sector. For more information on OTI, visit OSHA’s Directorate of Training and Education Web page. OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs’ responsibilities include coordinating OSHA investigations of safety and health complaints from federal workers, coordinating with federal agencies on improving injury and illness prevention, and coordinating OSHA inspections to ensure agencies provide federal workers with safe work environments.