Greenville Technical College (GTC) has been selected as a recipient of a $111,885 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Susan Harwood Training Grant Program award. Recipients of these grants deliver safety and health training aimed at preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths.
GTC will use the grant to fulfill an unmet training need for construction workers. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Prevention, falls are the number one cause of construction worker fatalities, with many of these accidents occurring in the worker’s first two months on the job. Hispanic workers are at special risk. While they constitute 11 percent of the construction workforce in South Carolina, they accounted for 45 percent of construction site deaths between the years 2003 and 2017. This higher mortality rate may be due to language barriers and inadequate access to quality training.
The grant-funded Fall Prevention/Fall Protection training will be offered in both English and Spanish with a focus on the needs of small businesses and trade contractors. Emphasis will be on safe work practices and personal responsibility for maintaining a safe worksite. Training will be offered with flexible scheduling including evening and weekend classes to accommodate participant work schedules. At least 25 percent of the course will consist of hands-on activities with skill checkoffs.