{"72011":{"#nid":"72011","#data":{"type":"news","title":"High School Students Learn Workplace Safety","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs part of an effort to increase job-safety training and awareness among younger Americans, scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have joined with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other groups to introduce health and safety training to Georgia high schools. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe aim: to try to ensure that young workers grasp job-safety basics before they ever reach the workplace.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI instructors and others have already taught OSHA job-safety classes to three Georgia high schools, and more schools are scheduled to receive instruction.  The effort stems from a 2006 agreement between OSHA, GTRI, Georgia schools and other groups to make safety and health training more available to the state\u0027s students.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Today, it\u0027s an effort for many people in the workforce to remember safety basics - for example, to put their safety glasses on when working with chemicals,\u0022 said Michelle L. Dunham, a research scientist in the Occupational Safety and Health Division of GTRI\u0027s Electronic Systems Laboratory (ELSYS). \u0022We want to make it automatic for kids joining the workforce to take those kinds of precautions - the same way they always put on a seatbelt in a car because that\u0027s what they\u0027ve grown up doing.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents attend a10-hour course that\u0027s team-taught by OSHA and Georgia Tech instructors as well as industry representatives.  The modular course covers general safety and health information as well as instruction pertaining to students\u0027 areas of work specialization. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There are lots of different modules, and depending on the school, they\u0027ll vary,\u0022 Dunham said. \u0022We\u0027ve started out teaching students going into the construction trades, but the course could be helpful to students in other study areas such as automotive and medical services.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo date, GTRI instructors and others have taught the 10-hour course at three Atlanta area high schools - Maxwell High School of Technology in Lawrenceville, McEachern High School in Powder Springs and Dekalb High School of Technology-North in Dunwoody.  Well over 100 students have completed the classes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThose graduating receive the OSHA 10-hour card, which can give them an advantage with employers wanting to comply with OSHA regulations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe course is rigorous, Dunham notes. Missing even a single class means a student does not receive a 10-hour card.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We decided that this was an adult learning process,\u0022 she said.  \u0022Students had to learn that this was like being on a job.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDunham, an industrial hygienist, explains that the Georgia Tech Safety and Health Program also works directly with industry.  Georgia Tech staff members perform on-campus training and consultation at the OSHA Training Institute Education Center, and also at job sites throughout Georgia and the Southeast.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDunham believes the high-school training effort is an important new direction.  It not only helps prepare students for the workplace, but it also can expand availability of the OSHA course by training high school faculty to teach it. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBringing the OSHA 10-hour course to high schools is one of the first results of the Georgia Youth Alliance, a 2006 outreach agreement between OSHA, GTRI, the Georgia Department of Education, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers and the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDunham -- a second-generation industrial hygienist (her father is also involved in the profession) -- was an initiator of the youth-outreach effort.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The push to involve youth in health-safety training is big nationally, and since we wanted to make it work locally, I suggested the idea of an alliance,\u0022 Dunham recalled. \u0022Though we\u0027ve started out small, there\u0027s opportunity for this to really grow through a variety of efforts. For example, we go to career fairs to get the message out, too.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe outreach effort is primarily funded by OSHA.  It\u0027s also enjoyed volunteer support from industry groups that have participated in the teaching effort.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn additional benefit to youth outreach, she says, is that it informs students about the industrial-hygiene profession itself. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re trying to show young people that this is a really interesting career,\u0022 said Dunham. \u0022It\u0027s kind of like [the television program] \u0022CSI,\u0022 but it\u0027s in the workplace.  You go in and you\u0027re the detective - somebody\u0027s complaining that they\u0027re having a hard time breathing, and you try to figure out what\u0027s causing that.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Michelle Dunham (404-407-8284); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michelle.dunham@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emichelle.dunham@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New initiative helps instill job-safety awareness early"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"To increase job-safety training and awareness among younger Americans, scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have joined with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other groups to introduce health and safety training to Georgia high schools.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Program starts safety training and awareness early"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-07-19 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72012":{"id":"72012","type":"image","title":"Students learn ladder safety","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"},"72013":{"id":"72013","type":"image","title":"Students learn power saw safety","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72012","72013"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.oshainfo.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Occupational Safety \u0026 Health Program"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7554","name":"OSHA"},{"id":"167060","name":"safety"},{"id":"166847","name":"students"},{"id":"2661","name":"training"},{"id":"7555","name":"workers"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}