Posts Tagged: safety and health

Some of the participants in the training pose with their completion certificates.

This past Saturday, UFCW Local 1189, the UFCW Occupational Safety and Health Department and the Greater Minnesota Workers’ Center hosted a workers’ rights training session for unorganized poultry workers in St. Cloud, Minn. The training was focused on giving unorganized workers tools to stand up for a safe workplaces and helping them build common ground with workers of different cultural backgrounds. More than 70 workers from a variety of plants came out for the training, which was simultaneously conducted in English, Spanish and Somali.

“I am really glad I came to this training with the Somali people,” said one Spanish-speaking worker during the comment portion of the training. “I tried to get my friends to come with me but they were too afraid. I am not afraid. I know we can work together to change our workplace and make it better for everyone.”

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has awarded the UFCW $140,000 for a one-year federal safety and health training grant.

The UFCW will use the grant to focus on ergonomic hazard training for workers in meatpacking, poultry, food processing, and retail industries. Workers in these industries suffer some of  the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) compared to workers in other industries.

Training and educational materials will be delivered to union representatives, safety and ergonomic committee members, and UFCW members to help recognize ergonomics hazards, analyze the workplace for hazards, and implement ergonomic injury prevention measures.  The materials will cover workers’ rights under OSHA, and there is also a train-the-trainer component so that local unions can continue the trainings after the grant funding ends. Trainings will be available in English, Spanish, and other languages if necessary. Contact the UFCW Safety and Health Office for more information.