Meeting the occupational safety and health needs of individuals with disabilities employed in sheltered workshops

Thousands of individuals with severe disabilities are employed in segregated “sheltered workshops” in the United States. These work centers are community-based rehabilitation programs (CRPs) that provide services, such as life skills training, as well as employment opportunities to individuals for whom mainstream, competitive employment is difficult to secure. CRPs contract with government agencies and private companies to provide services, such as janitorial work and grounds maintenance, and/or to manufacture or assemble products. Due largely to the hazardous nature of the work being performed in these CRPs, the injury rate in sheltered workshops is nearly twice the rate for private industry in general. This presentation will describe an exciting new effort designed to address the high injury rate and promote safe working environments for individuals with severe disabilities. An essential component of the project has been a strong partnership with a national organization that assists, monitors and provides training to the majority of CRPs providing sheltered employment in the country -- NISH (National Industries for the Severely Handicapped). The project has involved working with NISH to conduct health and safety training for supervisors from their member CRPs; introducing supervisors to a tailored curriculum for teaching employees with developmental disabilities basic health and safety skills; and a follow-up survey to assess to what extent CRP supervisors are using the curriculum to teach their employees with disabilities. This presentation will summarize the health and safety issues found in CRPs and provide an overview of the tailored curriculum for this vulnerable population of workers.