Interdisciplinary safety and health training for teachers of students/young adult workers with special health care needs

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Public Health's NJ Safe Schools Program (NJ SS) is dedicated to assisting secondary school programs to reduce occupational safety and health hazards (S&H) in classroom and worksite microenvironments. In 2010-2012 NJ SS focused part of its training efforts on piloting a new half-day (2-3 hour) training on S&H topics for secondary school career-vocational-technical teachers of students with special health care needs (SHCN). These students may have physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities, e.g., autism spectrum disorders including Asperger's syndrome. In 2013, NJ SS, in collaboration with multiple clinical, education and technology stakeholders throughout NJ, has secured additional funding to expand, develop and conduct full-day trainings throughout NJ for teachers and other staff professionals. This presentation will describe the training. The overall goal is to expand S&H knowledge and awareness by providing colleagues and students with SHCN with new and/or publically available resources plus learning and work placement opportunities. The interdisciplinary team will use short lectures, videos, demonstrations, sharing anecdotes and evaluation/needs assessment surveys. The agenda will cover the curriculum and topics like hygiene, infection control, ergonomics, exposure agent identification and mitigation or prevention, job coaching and placement recruitment strategies, and “soft skills” critical to workplace success. We also will incorporate activities from the NIOSH Youth@Work Talking Safety curriculum. Exercises involving hazard mapping of microenvironments in which students with SHCN typically are placed for work experiences are included. This training should enhance the preparation of students/young adults with SHCN entering community workplaces.