268428 Meeting the needs of low literacy workers in the construction and environmental remediation workforce: Best practices from the field

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sharon D. Beard, MS, IH , Worker Education and Training Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC
This is an abstract for a 90-minute session with the following individuals: Alonzo Emergy, Linda Delp and Racquel Penderhughes. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Education and Training Program WETP) and its grantees have developed model health and safety training for workers engaged in the hazardous waste, emergency response, construction and environmental remediation workforce since 1987. During this time, many exciting, targeted and diverse tools, techniques and approaches were developed and explored to reach low literacy workers in the construction and environmental remediation workforce. Under the minority worker training program (MWTP), life skills and job readiness curricula focuses on meeting the special needs workers new to or reentering the workforce by using a worker centered life skills training to provide targeted education at the workers comprehensive level that focuses on building educational, emotional, and interpersonal scoping skills to respond to the demands of work life. Training such as building cultural competency, providing remedial education, the use of use specific illustrations to existing health material and using appropriate communication techniques have drastically increase retention and employment of students graduating from the MWTP. In particular, many of our training programs employ “Training Approaches for Worker Empowerment” that conceptualizes our core value of the training programs by using peer to peer effective adult education to empower workers to stand up for safe workplaces. These training approaches include using methods of popular education to engage participants, the right to understand: linking literacy to health & safety training, and educating for action.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Occupational health and safety
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe specific tools, techniques and approaches to increase learning retention of low literacy workers. 2. Demonstrate how these tools, techniques and approaches have been used in health and safety training and job training programs. 3. List the outcomes of the training and any evaluation results that have been shown to increase student/worker comprehension and ability to utilize training in the field.

Keywords: Training, Occupational Health Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked in the health and safety field for the past 20 years and as an industrial hygienist for the NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program for the past 15 years I have been responsible for the administration and oversight of the Hazardous waste worker, minority worker training, and DOE nuclear worker training programs during this time to train worker to respond to occupational and environmental exposures on the job.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.