May 2023 Awardee Meeting Presentations Available

The presentations and agenda from the Spring 2023 WTP Awardee Meeting are available on the Clearinghouse website. The Awardee Meeting brings awardees together to provide program updates, exchange information regarding training, and discover new areas of interest to awardees. The Trainers’ Exchange presentations and agenda will be posted at a later date.

2023 Trainers’ Exchange and Awardee Meeting Webpage

Building Capacity with American Indians and Alaska Natives to Handle Hazardous Materials and Respond to Emergencies

Tribal nations across the U.S. are self-governing entities, operating their own solid and hazardous waste programs, utility systems, and law enforcement agencies. The NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) funds health and safety training for American Indian and Alaska Native tribal workers and communities across the country. These training efforts protect workers, improve emergency and disaster response, increase employment opportunities, and build capacity in tribal communities.

What’s New

National EMS Week: EMS Worker Creates Props to Help Educate Trainees

An Emergency Medical Services (EMS) worker trainer in Denver is creating props to help incoming trainees get prepared for the field. The trainer is creating props with fake veins, bones, and skin to help EMS students receive more realistic, cost-effective training.

CBS News Colorado

California Officials Investigating Loss of 30-Ton Shipment of Explosive Chemicals

Some 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as both fertilizer and a component in explosives, went missing as it was shipped by rail from Wyoming to California last month, prompting four separate investigations. A railcar loaded with 30 tons of the chemical left Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 12. The car was found to be empty after it arrived two weeks later at a rail stop in the Mojave Desert, according to a short incident report from the explosives firm that made the shipment.

KQED [Author: Ted Goldberg]

WHO Launches Global Network to Detect and Prevent Infectious Disease Threats

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are launching a global network to help protect people from infectious disease threats through the power of pathogen genomics. The International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) will provide a platform to connect countries and regions and improve systems for collecting and analyzing samples. The platform will allow data to be shared more broadly and drive public health decision-making.

WHO News

National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council

The National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council (NAEHSC) is a Congressionally mandated body that advises the secretary of HHS, the director of NIH, and the director of NIEHS on matters relating to the direction of research, research support, training, and career development supported by NIEHS. An important function of the council is secondary review of research grant applications with a focus on NIEHS scientific program priorities and program balance. The upcoming council meeting will be held June 6 and 7, 2023.

Event Information

9th Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference

Texas Southern University will co-host in collaboration with The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice the Ninth Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference. The purpose of the conference is to bring together HBCU faculty and students, researchers, climate professionals and environmental justice and coastal community residents impacted by toxic facilities and severe weather events related to climate change in order to bridge the gap between theory and the experiential realities of climate change. The conference will address issues related to climate justice, adaptation, community resilience, global climate issues, and other major climate change topics. The conference will be held in-person October 11 - 15, 2023.

Event Information

‘A Textbook Case of Environmental Racism’: The Battle Over the Brookhaven Landfill

The area of North Bellport on Long Island sits in the shadows of a massive landfill. This predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood also has the lowest life expectancy on Long Island, as well as the second-highest rates of asthma. Environmental activists do not think this is a coincidence, and for decades they have waged a battle to shut down the Brookhaven Landfill, which they believe is making their community sick.

STAT [Author: Nicholas St. Fleur]

‘Working: What We Do All Day’ Explores What a ‘Good’ Job Actually Is

In a new limited series, host Barack Obama visits three American workplaces. In an ideal world, every job would offer workers good pay, purpose, and a chance to grow. However, the ways in which we earn money and seek out a livelihood are much more complicated, especially when you consider the spiraling inequities many Americans face in the workplace today.

Netflix (subscription required)

Watch: Native Communities in Louisiana Fight Rising Sea Levels

In Louisiana, coastal erosion is claiming an average amount of land equivalent to a football field every hour. Some Native American communities in the southeastern part of the state are the hardest hit. Special correspondent Megan Thompson brings us the story of three Indigenous communities fighting to save their tribal lands.

PBS News Hour

‘Masks, Misinformation, and Making Do’ Chronicles Experience of Appalachian Healthcare Workers during the Pandemic

As the COVID-19 public health emergency comes to a close, a new book tells the story of its impact on rural health care providers in their voices. Masks, Misinformation, and Making Do: Appalachian Health-Care Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic is a selection of essays written by the people who experienced it, said the book’s editor Wendy Welch.

The Daily Yonder [Author: Liz Carey]

U.S. Department of Labor Announces More Than $12M in Grant Funding Available to Support Worker Safety, Health Training Initiatives

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the availability of more than $12.7 million in funding to make more good jobs available to the U.S. workforce by supporting training initiatives designed to promote safety and health in the nation’s workplaces. Grants will support recipients’ efforts to provide instructor-led remote and in-person hands-on training for workers and employers in small businesses; industries with high injury, illness and fatality rates; and vulnerable workers, who are underserved, have limited English proficiency, or are temporary workers.

DOL News Release

Funding Opportunity: FY 2023 Hurricanes Fiona and Ian Behavioral Health Recovery Program

The purpose of this program is to address the behavioral health impacts of Hurricanes Fiona and Ian. Award recipients may provide behavioral health treatment (including screening and diagnosis), crisis counseling and other related helplines, or other service-delivery programs to provide support to individuals impacted by Hurricane Fiona and/or Hurricane Ian.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Grant Program FY 2022 Sub-application and Selection Status

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program initial round of selections for the tribal set-aside and the state and territory allocations. In addition to project selections, the BRIC Program offers help to communities in the form of non-financial technical assistance. This assistance, for up to 36 months, helps local and tribal jurisdictions to reduce disaster damage, build community resilience, and sustain successful mitigation programs.

FEMA News Release

DOE Announces Nearly $60 Million to Advance Clean Hydrogen Technologies and Improve the Electric Power Grid

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced nearly $42 million in funding for 22 projects in 14 states to advance critical technologies for producing, storing, and deploying clean hydrogen. DOE also announced $17.8 million to establish a new North American university research consortium that will help states and tribal communities implement grid resilience programs and achieve decarbonization goals.

DOE News Release

EPA Mapping Tool Shows How Rising Sea Levels Could Affect Hazardous Waste Facilities

A new data visualization tool from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows the projected sea level rise around hazardous waste facilities in flood zones. It’s a tool meant to help facility managers assess possible flood risk and better prepare for climate change impacts.

Waste Dive [Author Megan Quinn]

Job Accommodation Network

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on job accommodations and disability employment issues. Serving customers across the United States and around the world for more than 35 years, JAN provides free one-on-one practical guidance and technical assistance on job accommodation solutions, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related legislation, and self-employment and entrepreneurship options for people with disabilities.

JAN

Latino Worker Safety Center Seeks an Executive Director

The Executive Director reports to and works collaboratively with the Board of Directors in leading the growth and sustainability of the Latino Worker Safety Center (LWSC), taking it from its current stage to a more mature organization, capable of delivering on its long-term vision and mission. The Executive Director ensures that the LWSC's fiscal, operational, developmental, and programmatic strategies are effectively implemented across all segments of the organization.

Job Posting

The Alliance for a Greater New York (ALIGN) Seeks an Executive Director

The Executive Director will lead ALIGN’s strategic engagement with external stakeholders in the community and government and will be confident in lobbying at the city and state level for ALIGN initiatives. They will be a strategic communicator who is comfortable speaking on the record with the media and will be a persuasive spokesperson representing the organization at key events and coalition tables statewide.

Job Posting

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