OSHA News

OSHA Announces New OTI Education Centers

(Jan 09, 2008)-- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced 8 new OSHA Training Institute (OTI) Education Centers and two renewals. Current OTI Education Centers offer training courses on OSHA standards and occupational safety and health issues. The additional OTI Education Centers, made up of non-profit organizations, will further increase OSHA’s reach throughout the country to provide safety and health training.

“We are pleased to add the new OSHA Training Institute Education Centers in our continuing effort to promote employee safety and health through training,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. “These centers will extend access to a greater number of individuals who seek to incorporate OSHA safety and health practices into their workplaces.”

The OTI Education Centers program was created in 1992 to complement the OSHA Training Institute (OTI) in Arlington Heights, Ill., which is OSHA’s premier training provider. The OTI Education Centers provide training nationwide to private sector and federal personnel from agencies outside OSHA. The OTI Education Centers trained more than 27,000 people during FY 2007, representing an all-time record for the program.

The new centers were selected through a national competition announced last July. Applicant organizations were evaluated based on occupational safety and health experience, continuing education training background, classroom and laboratory availability, and the ability to provide training throughout the region. OSHA provides no funding to the education centers. They support their OSHA training through their normal tuition and fee structures. The newly selected OTI Education Centers are:

Region III
A consortium comprised of:

* ECRI Institute - Plymouth Meeting, Pa. (lead organization)
* Chesapeake Region Safety Council - Baltimore
* Johns Hopkins University and Health System – Baltimore
* Mid-Atlantic Construction Safety Council – Philadelphia

Region IV
A consortium comprised of:

* North Carolina State University – Raleigh, N.C. (lead organization)
* University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Tenn.

University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Region V
Heartland Safety and Health Education Center, a consortium comprised of:

* Indiana University – Bloomington, Ind. (lead organization)
* University of Wisconsin, Whitewater – Whitewater, Wis.

Region VI
The University of Texas at Arlington – Houston

Region VII
Metropolitan Community Colleges Business & Technology Center - Kansas City, Mo.

Region VIII
Mountain West OSHA Education Center, a consortium comprised of:

* University of Utah - Salt Lake City (lead organization)
* Salt Lake Community College – Salt Lake City
* Uintah Basin Applied Technology College – Vernal, Utah (new consortium member)

Region IX
California State University, Dominguez Hills – Carson, Calif.

Chabot-Las Positas Community College District – Pleasanton, Calif.

College of Southern Nevada – Las Vegas

The OTI Education Centers will also assist the agency in administering the OSHA Outreach Training Program – the agency’s primary method to train employees in the basics of occupational safety and health. OTI Education Centers are the principal distribution channel for Outreach Trainer courses, including prerequisite and update courses. Trainer courses are offered by topic areas including construction, general industry, disaster site, and maritime. Through these train-the-trainer programs, qualified individuals who complete a one-week OSHA trainer course are authorized to teach 10-hour or 30-hour courses focusing on safety and health hazards. Through the OSHA Outreach Training Program, more than one-half million people received training during FY 2007.

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