Harwood training program gone from OSHA’s 2019 budget
OSHA’s FY 2019 budget request reflects an emphasis on compliance assistance, an increase in enforcement and the elimination of a longstanding safety and health training grant program – a move sure to draw the hire of some in the occupational safety community.
The agency says its request for $549,033,000 for FY 2019 will allow it beef up its VPP initiative and restore 24 of the 33 compliance assistance positions that were lost in a five-year-long budget crunch. The seven percent increase in funding for compliance assistance efforts (over FY 2018 levels) would also go toward programs that help small businesses, information dissemination, the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), strategic partnerships and alliances, and training and outreach through the OSHA Training Institute.