The United Steelworkers’ (USW) Health, Safety and Environment Department has been awarded the Tony Mazzocchi Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) for its efforts to improve workplace health and safety.

This award recognizes the accomplishments of health and safety activists in advocating for the rights of workers.

“Although many unions have struggled to keep health and safety issues on the move within their structures and membership, the USW has been steadfast in expanding their program, reaching new workers and developing new programs that benefit its own members as well as workers in general,” said Tom O’Connor, executive director of the NCOSH.

“While health and safety education programs have gotten harder for unions to sustain, USW Health, Safety and Environment Department has consistently expanded its educational outreach to include more members and have health and safety activists from outside the union involved in these programs.”

The USW has grown its peer trainer program to include more members to develop new skills to lead health and safety training among workers and union leadership and management, O’Connor added.

The USW will receive its award on Dec. 6 at the National Worker Safety and Health Conference in Baltimore.