FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For additional information, contact:
Ashley Quackenbush, MPH, CHES
Senior Director, Education and Marketing
(404) 789-3155
[email protected]

November 7, 2023 (ATLANTA) — The Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) is one of 100 non-profit organizations awarded a Susan Harwood Training Grant through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Through this Targeted Topic Training grant, OSAP will develop a free, 3-hour instructor-led training for a total of 300 underserved dental and healthcare workers at tribally operated healthcare facilities (non-federal) who serve American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. OSAP will coordinate this training with specific facilities in underserved geographical areas with limited access to occupational safety and health training. The training will address critical workplace safety issues, including bloodborne pathogens, hazard communication, respiratory protection, personal protective equipment and instrument reprocessing.

“Infection control and occupational health and safety lapses in dental and medical healthcare settings can have a life-threatening impact,” says Executive Director Michelle Lee, CPC. “This training aims to provide comprehensive education to improve compliance, enhance workplace safety, protect underserved dental and healthcare workers in tribally operated healthcare facilities from occupational hazards and empower them to be safety champions. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to create a training to ensure every dental visit is a safe visit”.

The Susan Harwood Training Grant program is named after the late Dr. Susan Harwood, the former director of OSHA’s Office of Risk Assessment. Dr. Harwood was instrumental in developing federal standards that today protect people from workplace hazards, including asbestos, benzene, bloodborne pathogens, cotton dust, formaldehyde and lead. The program provides grants to non-profit organizations, including community and faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor-management associations, Native American tribes and local and state-sponsored colleges and universities. Target trainees include small-business employers and underserved vulnerable workers in high-hazard industries.

“Receiving this grant highlights OSAP’s commitment to providing culturally relevant, evidence-based education and training on infection prevention and safety,” continues Lee. “We believe that all patients deserve access to healthcare that is delivered safely and that the people who are involved in delivering such care are protected from occupational injury or illness.”

For more information about the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, visit www.osha.gov/harwoodgrants. Questions about this training program may be sent to OSAP directly at [email protected].

About OSAP
The Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) is the only nonprofit membership association for oral healthcare professionals that focuses exclusively on infection prevention and patient and provider safety. OSAP’s mission is to be the leading provider of infection prevention and control education, training, and credentialing that supports safe dental visits. For additional information, visit osap.org.

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