A centerpiece of LOHP’s work over the last 48 years is direct worker engagement and leadership development to transform the role workers play in their worksites and communities. Our training programs build knowledge and skills that enable workers to take individual or collective action. We also build the capacity of unions and community organizations to expand support for workers and integrate a worker health lens into their work and campaigns. Our “training of trainers” model prepares participants to conduct workshops and serve as health and safety resources. We also provide training for employers to build their understanding of workers’ rights and the key elements of an effective health and safety program, including the importance of worker engagement.
We train over 2,500 workers and hundreds of others each year, including supervisors, teachers, worker leaders and staff from unions and community organizations. We offer training in different languages, and many of our programs are in Spanish.
LOHP is involved in several statewide education initiatives, including the Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program, the School Action for Safety and Health Program, and the Injury and Illness Prevention Program, and we offer Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) trainings.
In addition to specific training projects, we can provide training on:
- Hazard awareness: learn about jobs hazards, how they affect workers’ health, and solutions to protect workers.
- Health and safety in organizing: for organizers and worker leaders to learn how to use health and safety campaigns to educate and involve workers.
- Workers’ rights: review the key rights on the job – health and safety, wages and breaks, workers’ compensation, protection against sexual harassment, and the right to take action without being punished.
Examples of projects:
WOSHTEP
The Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP) is a statewide initiative aimed at building worker leadership and providing resources to employers to address health and safety, with the goal of reducing occupational injuries and illnesses and workers’ compensation costs in California workplaces. The program includes the WOSH Specialist leadership training, training and resources for small businesses, and a leadership academy for teen workers. Each year, we also carry out projects for specific worker groups or issues – for example, day laborer training and materials for use in worker centers and street outreach, and trainings on sexual harassment and workplace stress. Learn more.
Pre-Appreticeship Training for Careers in Construction
The Hazardous Waste Project at LOHP has had a long relationship with the Cypress Mandela Training Center (CMTC), which is located in Oakland and provides pre-apprentice construction and life skills training along with employment assistance. Since 2000, LOHP has trained approximately 175 pre-apprenticeship students each year, providing HAZWOPER certification courses and awareness training on construction hazards including silica, hearing loss, ergonomics, and most recently – COVID 19. CMTC’s Director notes that “We have developed an exceptional partnership that exposes our students’ to high quality certification programs from professionals that understand and know how to develop best practices in health and safety for the construction industry.”
Domestic Workers’ Health and Safety
LOHP partnered with the California Domestic Worker Coalition (CDWC) on a training program to build leadership in addressing health and safety conditions. We trained staff and worker leaders from domestic worker organizations in Northern and Southern California, and they in turn carried out two-hour workshops focused on common hazards domestic workers face – including chemicals, heavy lifting and repetitive or awkward motions that can cause ergonomic injuries, excessive heat, wildfire smoke, slips and trips, sexual harassment, and stress. The training also covered employers’ responsibilities, and helped build workers’ skills in negotiating for better working conditions. In just a few months, workshops were conducted in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Cantonese, and Mandarin with 493 domestic workers around the state.
High-Road Workforce Development
We developed a training program to integrate and support worker voice and worker action to address hazards in workforce development programs, collaborating with the California State Workforce Development Board’s High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) grantees. HRTP is a California workforce development program that focuses on creating jobs that are high quality, create equity, and support climate mitigation. Our training engaged participants in reflecting on what High Road health and safety looks like, and strategizing concrete steps to bring in workers’ voices to their health and safety work. See our guidance and training resources to High Road Training Partnerships for more resources.
Keeping Students Safe on the Job
Young workers are 1.5 times more likely to be injured on the job than adults, and many enter the workplace without the skills and knowledge to recognize and problem-solve around workplace issues. To help address this, LOHP is partnering with the California Department of Education to provide professional development workshops for teachers throughout the state. Since Fall 2022, we have carried out train-the-trainer workshops across the state using the Youth @ Work Talking Safety curriculum from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This curriculum, originally developed by LOHP and other partners for NIOSH, is designed for teachers in work-based learning programs. It provides interactive activities and tools teachers can use with youth on how to identify and address job hazards, and how to take action when rights are violated or workers have concerns.
