{"73779":{"#nid":"73779","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech to Train Hurricane Recovery Workers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Department of Labor\u0027s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has awarded a one-year, $400,000 training grant to the Georgia Tech Research Institute to help train workers involved in cleanup and rebuilding in Gulf Coast areas damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is the fourth and the single largest Susan Harwood Training Grant awarded to the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in the past three years.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe grant is funding GTRI researchers to develop and provide training materials and conduct training sessions addressing occupational and safety health hazards that may be encountered by disaster recovery workers, supervisors and employers. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe training - expected to begin by mid-November -- will target those providing skilled support services (e.g., utility, demolition, debris removal and heavy equipment operation), site clean-up services, and recovery activities, including the rebuilding and reconstruction of the damaged areas.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ll be going out there with mobile training units, coordinating our locations with OSHA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),\u0022 said Dan Ortiz, chief of the Occupational Safety and Health Division in GTRI\u0027s Health and Environmental Systems Laboratory. \u0022Our approach in the disaster areas will have to be different than what we\u0027ve done before. For example, electricity may not be available in some areas, so we\u0027ll do demos and distribute one-page technical guides instead of giving PowerPoint presentations.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETen GTRI employees - including Art Wickman and Thomas Dean, who conducted training for workers cleaning up after the World Trade Center attack -- will form teams that rotate in and out of the disaster areas for the next six months. Senior research engineer Paul Schlumper will direct the project. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst, they will provide training in Mississippi, which is part of GTRI\u0027s territory for the OSHA-sponsored work and disaster site training it has done since 1978. Then teams will move into Louisiana and Texas and coordinate with their counterparts there, Ortiz explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Work zone safety and fall protection for people who are working on roofs is OSHA\u0027s top priority for us,\u0022 Ortiz noted.  \u0022\u0085. Our concern is that in the zeal to remove debris and restore buildings, workers and employers will take shortcuts. We want to have resources out there to make sure workers have the proper protective equipment and knowledge of environmental hazards.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETopics that GTRI training will cover include:  electrical and electrocution hazards, hand and power tool safety, biological hazards, chemical and respiratory hazards, confined space hazards, heat stress, ergonomic considerations, and hazardous materials and waste. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI experts hope to reach thousands of workers, some of whom will have language and literacy barriers, Ortiz said. Thus, they will provide training and written materials in Spanish and use symbols and other graphics to explain concepts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We suspect that a high percentage of the workers will be people whose only language is Spanish,\u0022 Ortiz added. \u0022So we will have the assistance of a Spanish-speaking consultant. We\u0027ll adapt our materials as we need to do to meet the needs of these workers.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA \u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jane Sanders (404-894-2214); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jane.sanders@edi.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejane.sanders@edi.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); Kirk Englehardt (404-385-0280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.toon@edi.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejohn.toon@edi.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Paul Schlumper (404-385-1797); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:paul.schlumper@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Epaul.schlumper@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Dan Ortiz (404-894-8276); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:daniel.ortiz@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edaniel.ortiz@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jane Sanders\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Research Institute wins OSHA grant"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech will help train workers involved in cleanup and rebuilding activities in Gulf Coast areas damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, thanks to a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor\u0027s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech wins grant to train recovery workers"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2005-10-26 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2005-10-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2005-10-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"73780":{"id":"73780","type":"image","title":"Roofing workers","body":null,"created":"1449178020","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:00","changed":"1475894678","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:38"}},"media_ids":["73780"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}