Labor Safety and Health Training Project

The Labor Safety and Health Training Project is a joint project of the National Labor College and the AFL-CIO.

The goal of the Project is to increase the involvement of workers in union efforts to improve workplace safety and health, and to increase the effectiveness of these efforts. The Project has developed extensive training materials and facilitator guides to be used in educating union members about workplace safety and health. The Project offers free safety and health training to union members, officers and staff, and also conducts a week long "train the trainer" program at the National Labor College.

Safety and Health Training

The Labor Safety and Health Training Project can provide workshops on workplace safety and health, free of charge, for unions and labor-related organizations. These workshops can be for members, officers or staff. The workshops have been developed by the Project to increase the involvement of workers in union efforts to improve workplace safety and health, and to increase the effectiveness of these efforts. Workshops can be presented in English or in Spanish.

Union Training on Workplace Safety and Health

The training is nontechnical and very participatory. It involves many different activities, including small group work, role play/skits, questionnaires, case studies, and audiovisual aids.

Workshops are available on the following topics:

• A Union Approach to Workplace Safety and Health (union perspective on workplace safety and health, what causes workplace injuries and illnesses, union goals for safety and health, and more),
• Identifying Hazards in the Workplace (including several "mapping" activities, creating and using workplace safety and health surveys, reading and interpreting injury and illness logs, sources of information on hazards, and more),
• Health and Safety Rights of Workers and Their Unions (including worker and union rights under OSHA and other laws and how to effectively use these rights),
• Effective Safety and Health Committees (with activities on establishing both union and joint committees, roles and functions of committees, communications within the union, preparing for joint committee meetings, strategic planning, and more),
• Recordkeeping: Reading, Interpreting and Using the OSHA 300 Log of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses (including worker and union rights to this information and how to use the information),
• Introduction to Ergonomics (identifying and controlling ergonomic hazards, and developing strategies for eliminating or reducing ergonomic hazards).
• What Workers and Their Unions Need to Know About H1N1 Pandemic Influenza (including what pandemic influenza is; how it spreads, and how it may affect workers and their workplaces and the public; how to protect workers during pandemic flu; what the law requires; the role of the union in dealing with pandemic flu)
  

We can offer this training to your members, officers and staff.  We provide union instructors and materials, and there is no cost to your union or organization for the training. We can provide the training in whatever time format works for you (such as one to three hour workshops, day long or multi-day workshops).  Training sessions can be held as a freestanding activity, or in conjunction with another program of your union or organization (like a regional conference, a meeting, a summer school, or a women's conference), or as part of a program you are holding at the National Labor College.

Training can be done in English or in Spanish.

Interested?  Contact Sharon Simon, Project Director, at 301-431-5414 or at ssimon@nlc.edu

Train the Trainer Program

The “train the trainer” program is a six-day course on workplace health and safety using a participatory popular education approach. The program is for union activists, staff, and local union health and safety representatives who would like to teach their membership about workplace health and safety issues. Participants will learn the fundamentals of workplace health and safety, with a focus on the topics below. They will also learn how to teach or facilitate classes on these subjects for other union members. Specific topics to be covered include:

• Worker and Union Roles in Workplace Safety and Health
• Identifying Hazards in the Workplace
• Legal Health and Safety Rights of Workers and Unions
• Recordkeeping (OSHA 300 Log) Requirements
• Introduction to Ergonomics
• Effective Health and Safety Committees

The next Train the Trainer Program will be held April 11-16 at the National Labor College. Interested? Click here for the flyer and here for the application.

 

Training Materials

The Labor Safety and Health Training Project has developed extensive training materials and facilitator guides to be used in educating union members about workplace safety and health. Training materials are in English and Spanish. Online access to training materials is limited to union safety and health trainers. Sign in here:

 

Union Fact Sheets on Pandemic Flu

The Project has developed union fact sheets on pandemic flu. The H1N1 (swine) flu has now infected people in the United States and in many other countries. The World Health Organization has declared it a full blown pandemic.

Pandemic flu is a new type of flu virus that spreads quickly and easily around the world. We have no way to fight off this new type of virus, because we have not built up any resistance (immunity) to it. Because no one has any immunity to this new flu virus, everyone is at risk of becoming infected. Although the current flu does not appear to be severe, this could change at any time and the flu could cause very serious illness and death.

 During a pandemic, many workers are at risk of being exposed to the pandemic flu virus at work and becoming sick themselves. In order to protect workers from exposure, it is essential that workplaces plan and prepare for the safety and health issues of pandemic flu now. These fact sheets explain the basics of pandemic flu, how to best protect workers, and the actions that should be taken now.

Click on a title to access the fact sheet:

• Basic Facts About Pandemic Flu
• Protecting Workers During Pandemic Flu
• Respirators: One Way to Protect Against Pandemic Flu
• Protecting Health Care Workers During Pandemic Flu
• What the Union Can Do: Preparing the Workplace for Pandemic Flu

Project Contact Information

Contact Sharon Simon at the National Labor College, 301-431-5414, or at ssimon@nlc.edu with any questions.