UTSA wins grant to improve workplace safety for small businesses

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will receive $179,977 from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to help improve health training and safety programs for small businesses.

OSHA officials awarded UTSA the grant as part of a $10 million national grant program. In all, 57 university and nonprofit organizations nationwide are sharing in the educational funding.

UTSA officials plan to conduct focus groups with small-business owners and managers to assess the needs and awareness levels of small businesses. The university will teach them how to recognize emergency-hazards in their workplace.

UTSA also will develop a half-day training program on workplace emergency planning for the general industry and another program for the health care industry.

The grant funding is geared to assist programs seeking to develop training materials for Hispanic and limited English-proficient employees, small business employees, and employees in industries with high fatality rates.

"Training and education are the cornerstones of workplace safety and health," OSHA Assistant Secretary Edwin G. Foulke Jr. says. "These grants create new opportunities to reach non-English speaking employees and others in high-hazard jobs and help them return home safe at the end of the work day."