oppSHTG-FY-18-03-cfda17.502-instructions.docx

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT/NOTICE OF AVAILABLE FUNDING:

Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, FY 2018 Funding

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE NUMBER: 17.502

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: SHTG-FY-18-03

ACTION: This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)/Notice of Available Funding will assist eligible nonprofit organizations to build organizational capacity for delivering quality occupational safety and health training programs for workers and employers.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: Non-profit organizations including qualifying labor unions, community-based and faith-based organizations, employer associations that are not an agency of a state or local government, state or local government-supported institutions of higher education, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian-controlled organizations serving Indians, and Native Hawaiian organizations may apply.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must follow the guidelines stated in this FOA before submitting a complete application package including attachments at https://www.Grants.gov (Grants.gov). Submission instructions are available at Grants.gov.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: This FOA closes on September 2, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. eastern time. Applications not validated by Grants.gov, or submitted after this deadline, are ineligible for consideration.

NOTICE OF CONCURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT: Applications submitted under the wrong FOA number are invalid and will not be considered. Applicants competing for a Targeted Topic Training grant must submit their application under FOA number SHTG-FY-18-01. Applicants competing for a Training and Educational Materials Development grant must submit their application under FOA number SHTG-FY-18-02.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Information about the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program is located on the OSHA website at https://www.osha.gov/dte/sharwood/index.html. Email your FOA questions to HarwoodGrants@dol.gov, or call 847-759-7700 x7926, weekdays before 5:00 p.m. eastern time.

The Grants.gov Support web page, https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html, may have answers to your questions or problems regarding your application submission. In addition, you may contact them by email, Support@grants.gov, or telephone, 1-800-518-4726, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (except on federal holidays).

SHTG-FY-18-03 Capacity Building Grants FOA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

Under the authority of Section 21(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) established its discretionary grant program in 1978. In 1997, OSHA renamed the program in honor of the late Susan Harwood, former director of the OSHA Office of Risk Assessment. The grant program offers opportunities for nonprofit organizations to compete annually for funding so they may develop and conduct training and education programs for small business employers and workers on the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of occupational safety and health hazards in their workplaces, and to inform workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the OSH Act.

For FY 2018, OSHA announces the availability of approximately $4.5 million to fund new Susan Harwood Training Program capacity building grants. Susan Harwood Training Program grants are subject to the availability of federal funding and appropriations. OSHA expects to award multiple grants to eligible nonprofit organizations under this competitive Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Program funding is for a 12-month period beginning no later than September 30, 2018, and ending on September 30, 2019. Two types for capacity building grant opportunities are available. The maximum award for a Capacity Building Developmental grant is $165,000 and for a Capacity Building Pilot grant is $80,000.

Organizations are restricted to one Susan Harwood Training grant award in a fiscal year.

If an organization submits multiple applications, OSHA will review the last complete and viable application package submitted. Once submitted, applications are not available for additions, corrections, or revisions. To make changes to a submitted application, the organization must submit a new application package.

Eligible nonprofit applicants include qualifying labor unions, community-based and faith-based organizations, and employer associations that are not an agency of a state or local government. State or local government-supported institutions of higher education are eligible to apply in accordance with OMB 2 CFR 200 and DOL exceptions in 2 CFR 2900. Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian-controlled organizations serving Indians, and Native Hawaiian organizations are eligible to apply in accordance with Executive Order 13175.

Ineligible applicants are individuals, for profit organizations, 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations, and FY 2017 Susan Harwood grantees with more than a 90-day time extension to their grant.

Program Overview and Funding Opportunity Description

The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program funds eligible nonprofit organizations to develop training materials and deliver training on the recognition, abatement, and prevention of occupational safety and health hazards in workplaces including providing related assistance. Applicants are encouraged but not required to develop training materials. The program emphasizes seven areas:

· training workers and/or employers on identifying and means of preventing serious safety and health hazards identified by OSHA through the DOL’s Strategic Plan, as part of an OSHA special emphasis program, or other OSHA priorities (see https://www.osha.gov);

· educating workers on their rights and educating employers on their responsibilities under the OSH Act;

· educating workers and/or employers in small businesses (for purposes of this grant program, a small business is one with 250 or fewer employees);

· training workers and/or employers about new OSHA standards;

· training at-risk and/or low-literacy worker populations, including temporary and warehouse workers;

· providing technical assistance to employers and workers; and

· developing and disseminating materials to train and educate workers.

Award Information

Capacity building grants financially support organizations in building their ability to provide occupational safety and health training. OSHA may award a grant with or without negotiations with the applicant. Funding for the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program is subject to the availability of federal funding and appropriations.

Award Categories

The two grant categories listed in this FOA have different requirements and applicants must propose activities specific to the grant category for which they are applying.

CAPACITY BUILDING DEVELOPMENTAL grants support and assist organizations that through past activities have established a capability to provide occupational safety and health training, education, materials development, and/or technical assistance. Based on a needs assessment, applicants conduct a significant number of training programs addressing occupational safety and health hazards. Additionally, applicants are encouraged to develop educational materials, and to provide technical assistance.

Each applicant must develop a comprehensive plan for becoming a resource center for safety and health including how they will become financially self-sufficient after the four-year capacity building period. The plan should focus on developing and/or expanding the capacity of the organization to provide safety and health training, education, and related assistance to the targeted audiences. Based on satisfactory performance and congressional funding, Capacity Building Developmental grants may be eligible for no more than three additional 12-month follow-on grants. This allows the grantee the opportunity to continue building capacity and achieve their objective with follow-on grants. At the end of the final follow-on grant, the organizations must integrate their new capacity into the organization, and continue assisting workers and employers after the grant ends ensuring that services developed under the grant continue.

CAPACITY BUILDING PILOT grants assist organizations who demonstrate a potential for meeting the objectives of the Capacity Building Developmental program, but need to assess their organizational capabilities, priorities, and needs. The Capacity Building Pilot allows an organization to complete pilot activities and to solidify the organization’s capacity building plans, by allowing time to formulate and test program objectives before moving forward into developing a full-scale Capacity Building Developmental program. Recipients of a Capacity Building Pilot grant will initiate limited program operations during the 12-month pilot period. The program operations should be small-scale trial projects. Upon successful completion of the Capacity Building Pilot grant, an organization may apply for a Capacity Building Developmental grant in the next fiscal year the grant opportunity is available. Capacity Building Pilot grants are not eligible for follow-on grants.

Performance Period

Grant awards are for a 12-month performance period beginning no later than September 30, 2018, and ending on September 30, 2019.

Funding

There is approximately $4.5 million available for new FY 2018 Capacity Building grants. Capacity Building Developmental grant applicants may request federal funding up to $165,000. Capacity Building Pilot grant applicants may request federal funding up to $80,000. Applicants may commit non-federal resources to their proposed grant program, but it is not a requirement.

Successful Capacity Building Developmental grantee may be eligible for up to three additional 12-month follow-on grants to continue developing their occupational safety and health training capacity program. Funding for Capacity Building Developmental follow-on grants will be conditional on the grantee’s performance, congressional approval, and federal funding. Follow-on grants awards may be non-competitive and funded at a level less than the previous year’s grant award.

Capacity Building Pilot grantees are not eligible for follow-on grants.

Eligible Trainees

OSHA covers most private sector employers and workers. Under this grant program, grantees may train only eligible workers and employers covered under the OSH Act of 1970, SEC. 4, codified at 29 U.S.C. 653 (Appendix A). This may include temporarily unemployed workers who are planning to reenter the workforce in a position covered by the OSH Act within the next three months. Applicants may not use grant funds to train their employees.

This grant program does not cover activities that benefit state and local government employees unless the employees have occupational safety and health responsibilities within their agency. These responsibilities may include agency’s safety and health trainers, safety and health program managers, safety and health committee members, or other employees responsible for the abatement of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions in their agency. Other state and local government employees are ineligible, including those who may have occupational safety and health protection under a state operated OSHA-approved State Plan occupational safety and health program. For information about OSHA-approved State Plan occupational safety and health programs, go to https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/index.html.

Targeted Training Audiences

Training and training materials must be in a language the participants can understand, and must serve employers and workers from multiple small businesses. Training planned for workers and employers in any of the 28 OSHA-approved State Plan states may include a reference to the state OSHA requirements, however, final training materials provided to OSHA as a requirement of this award may reference only federal OSHA regulations. Applicants proposing to provide training programs and materials to limited English proficiency workers, including Spanish, Asian American, and Pacific Islander languages will receive special consideration. Targeted training audiences are:

· small businesses (fewer than 250 employees);

· new businesses;

· limited English proficiency workers;

· non-literate and low literacy workers;

· young workers;

· temporary workers;

· minority and other hard-to-reach workers; and

· workers in high-hazard industries and industries with high fatality rates.

Application and Submission Information

This announcement includes instructions for this funding opportunity. Application submission information and forms are available on the Grants.gov website. An organization may receive only one Susan Harwood training grant in any fiscal year; therefore, applicants should apply for only one grant under this FOA, either a Capacity Building Developmental or a Capacity Building Pilot grant. If an organization submits more than one application for this funding opportunity, OSHA will review the last application accepted by Grants.gov.

Eligibility Applicants

Eligible applicants are nonprofit organizations and include qualifying labor unions, community-based and faith-based organizations, and employer associations (may not be an agency of a state or local government), state or local government-supported institutions of higher education, and Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Indian-controlled organizations serving Indians, Alaska Native entities, and Native Hawaiian organizations. Applicants other than state or local government supported institutions of higher education must submit evidence of nonprofit status.

All organizations listed in an application as a partner, or as a part of a consortium, must be eligible to be a grantee as defined by this FOA, and must adhere to program requirements. Grant duties may not be sub-awarded. Contracts must meet the award requirements and requirements of 2 CFR 200 and be awarded using full and open competition for procurement to the maximum extent practicable. The applicant is the lead partner and must identify who in their organization are the authorized representative and the financial certifying official for this grant. The authorized representative must have the authority to enter into a grant agreement, and will be the primary contact for OSHA communications regarding the grant. The financial certifying representative is responsible for managing grant funds and processing financial reports.

Ineligible applicants are individuals and FY 2017 Susan Harwood grantees with more than a 90-day time extension to their grant. Additionally, 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that engage in lobbying activities are not eligible to receive federal funds that constitute an award, grant, or loan.

Electronic Application

Prepare your grant application package using the checklist in Appendix B. After reviewing the Grants.gov application submission and receipts procedures in Appendix C, submit your application at https://www.Grants.gov (Grants.gov) no later than this announcement’s closing date and time. Refer to Appendix D for important information about application viability.

For Grants.gov questions, use the online answers section at Grants.gov Support (http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html), or contact Grants.gov Applicant Support by emailing Support@grants.gov, or calling 1-800-518-4726. Grants.gov support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week except on federal holidays.

If applying online poses a hardship, applicants must contact the OSHA Directorate of Training and Education (DTE) office at least three weeks prior to the application closing date. An OSHA representative will advise the applicant on how to submit an application online prior to the closing date. Send an email to HarwoodGrants@dol.gov, or call the Susan Harwood Grants Coordinator at 847-759-7700 x7926, weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. eastern time excluding federal holidays.

Required Application Content

OSHA will review complete applications only. Use the checklist in Appendix B to ensure you submit all the required documents listed below.

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance

· The amount entered on the SF-424, box 18a., is the official federal funding request.

· The applicant information must be consistent on all documents.

· The authorized representative electronic signature on the SF-424, block 21, constitutes a binding offer by the applicant.

· The authorized representative listed on the SF-424 must be the same authorized representative listed on the application summary document.

SF-424A Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs

· The projected budget must cover the 12-month performance period.

· The projected budget must be allocated by cost categories on the SF-424A and the detailed budget support documentation.

· Projected costs in each cost category must be shown as either a program or an administrative cost (defined in Appendix E).

· Budget information provided on the SF-424A must match the information provided by the applicant on the detailed budget support and budget narrative documents. Examples of the SF-424A and the detailed budget support documents are in Appendix F.

SF-424B Assurances – Non-Construction Programs

The authorized representative electronic signature certifies the applicant’s agreement to comply with federal laws, executive orders, regulations, policies, grant requirements, certifications, and assurances governing this program.

Project/Performance Site Location(s)

Include locations where grant activities will occur.

Grants.gov Certification Regarding Lobbying Form

The authorized representative’s electronic signature certifies the applicant agrees to comply with lobbying restrictions. If item 2 is applicable, complete the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form.

SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable)

Complete only if the organization makes payments to lobbying entities with the intent to influence an officer, employee, or member of any federal agency or Congress in connection with a covered federal action.

Refer to Appendix G for approved formatting for the following documents:

Application Summary (not to exceed 2 pages)

Follow the example in Appendix H to provide basic information about the application.

Program Abstract (not to exceed 1 page)

Follow the guidance in Appendix I and briefly describe the proposed capacity building plan and expected outcome.

Technical Proposal (not to exceed 20 double spaced pages)

Describe the applicant’s business, training experience, interaction with the target audience, successes in completing program obligations, staff’s occupational safety and health knowledge and experience, and planned activities for accomplishing project training goals. Use the following outline for the proposal:

A. PROPOSAL IDENTIFICATION

· Applicant/organization name

· Grant category: (Capacity Building Developmental or Capacity Building Pilot)

· Targeted population and/or industry

· Training topics selected for the grant year

B. PROPOSAL NARRATIVE

a. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

Provide a brief overview of the organization’s purpose, function, daily business activities, and the past five years of experience with governmental (federal, state, or local) grant programs.

· Address the organization’s experience with interacting and training adults.

· List any organizational experience that is specific to the selected target audience, industry, and/or training topics.

· Discuss the organization’s experience with recruitment, training, and other services involving the targeted audience, industry, and training topics. If the organization has experience conducting the proposed type of training program, briefly describe the program, type(s) of training materials developed, numbers of workers and/or employers trained, and the associated trainee contact hours for the past five years.

· Describe the organization’s experience in conducting and using level 1 training session evaluations, level 2 learning assessments, and level 3 training impact assessments.

b. STAFF EXPERIENCE

The applicant must use knowledgeable staff to support this grant program. Describe the occupational safety and health qualifications and relevant project experience of the professional staff as it pertains to the work activities proposed in the application. Include their experience in conducting training and/or developing training materials for adult learners, the targeted audience, occupational safety and health subject, and other experience relevant to the work activities proposed in the application. Attach resumes to support the staff’s qualifications. If some positions are vacant or being proposed, include position descriptions and/or minimum hiring qualifications instead of resumes. Attachment may include:

· Organizational chart (may be an attachment)

· Identify names of staff working on the grant

· Identify staff positions with the applicant organization

· Resumes, curricula vitae (CVs) or position description or minimum hiring qualifications, if planning to hire (attachments)

· Show occupational safety and health knowledge and experience

· Key staff (authorized representative, project manager, and others who spend more than 50% of their time on grant activities)

· Professional staff (material developers, trainers, etc.)

c. PROBLEM, PURPOSE, AND FUNDING NEEDS STATEMENT

Provide a clear and concise statement describing the project goals, issues addressed by the training, and organizational need for federal assistance. The statement may address unmet training needs of the target audience, industry, or topic. Include any issues encountered by the workers and employers in obtaining occupational safety and health training.

d. WORK PLAN PROPOSAL

The work plan allows the applicant to list the grant activities required to complete the project requirements and goals during the 12-month performance period. The proposal is comprised of two components, a matrix table that identifies the grant activities by quarter, and a descriptive narrative about the planned activities. The work plan should address the following for the current program year only.

· Needs assessment

· Training materials development, revisions, or acquisitions

· Targeted audience, including workers and employers

· Trainees recruitment

· Proposed training sessions including topic(s)

· Training locations (general)

· Training delivery method

· Anticipated number of trainees and training contact hours per training

· Planned activities for conducting levels 1, 2, and 3 assessments/ evaluations

· Anticipated benefits and results associated with training workers and employers

· Anticipated organizational capacity to be built including measures for showing the increase in capacity as related to the goals accomplished during the year

The work plan must be reasonable and achievable within the 12-month grant performance period. Grantees are accountable for completing the activities listed in the work plans, and meeting the proposed quarterly training projections. The work plan goals are the basis for measuring actual quarterly performance reported to the Assistant Secretary of Labor. Grantees must be mindful of performance issues and consult with OSHA as early as possible. Grantees may not be eligible for a follow-on grant if they do not perform satisfactorily and are not achieving their work goals.

A WORK PLAN ACTIVITY TABLE divided by program quarter for the 12-month performance period must include the activities and tasks projected for each performance quarter. The project’s quarters are:

Quarter 1: September 30, 2018 – December 31, 2018 Quarter 2: January 1, 2019 – March 31, 2019 Quarter 3: April 1, 2019 – June 30, 2019 Quarter 4: July 1, 2019 – September 30, 2019

When developing the work plan activity table, consider what the expected results are, and identify who, when, where, and how each activity or task supports accomplishing the goals of the work plan. Include all required grant-related activities in your work plan. These include attending OSHA-required meetings and monitoring visits, submitting grant-developed materials for OSHA review, submitting quarterly reports, projecting training sessions, anticipated trainee numbers and training contact hours, and other grant related activities.

WORK PLAN DETAILED NARRATIVE describes the activities, tasks, and expected results of the project’s performance goals. Program requirements are:

1. NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Grantees must complete a needs assessment to identify the gaps or deficiencies preventing them from reaching the targeted industry, audience, or geographic location. The goal is to determine what gaps exist between a present state (what is) and a desired state (what should be).

Needs assessments are systematic approaches to studying the knowledge, ability, interest, or attitude of a defined audience or industry involving a particular subject. Needs assessments may include formal research to gather data, or a carefully documented analysis where an advisory committee meets and follows a defined process to identify organizational needs.

Applicants should describe their experience in conducting needs assessments and outline the process for conducting an assessment to support the occupational safety and health capacity they plan to build. The needs assessment will provide insight about the awareness, demand, approach, impact, outcomes, and credibility of the proposed program. Needs assessments completed by an applicant within the past 6-months that support their capacity building needs are acceptable.

2. TRAINING MATERIALS

This funding opportunity focuses on developing organizational capacity to deliver training to workers and employers in a target industry. Applicants must identify the training materials they plan to use, and how and where they will acquire the materials. Provide a complete training materials package for each training topic. The package includes objectives, outlines, sign-in sheets, presentations, instructor guide/notes, videos, student manual/handouts, student exercises, training material content and presentation evaluation (level 1) and trainee assessments on subject matter knowledge and skills immediately before and after the training (level 2), and long-term impact to the trainees safety and health knowledge, work attitude, and workplace environment (level 3). OSHA considers training advertisements and promotional materials part of the training materials.

Applicants may acquire new materials, revise previously-approved Harwood materials, or develop new materials. Applicants should not propose developing training or educational materials that duplicate existing materials, but may update previously-approved Harwood materials as needed. Grantees must adhere to all copyright laws and provide a written certification that materials are free from copyright infringements. Applicants developing new materials must explain why existing materials do not meet their needs.

Training materials must address the recognition, abatement, and prevention of occupational safety and health hazards by covering federal OSHA requirements. Training planned for workers and employers in any of the 28 OSHA-approved State Plan states may include references to the state OSHA requirements, however, final training materials provided to OSHA may contain references to federal OSHA regulations only.

Training sessions may include a brief overview of OSHA Whistleblower Protection Programs (https://www.whistleblowers.gov/) regarding employee rights and employer responsibilities.

APPLICANTS ACQUIRING TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS from an outside source must provide a list of the acquired training materials. These materials must follow the commonly accepted Instructional Systems Design. Grantees must adhere to all copyright laws and provide a written certification that materials are free from copyright infringements. Acquired materials may be subject to OSHA review and approval.

APPLICANTS REVISING PREVIOUSLY-APPROVED HARWOOD TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS must provide information on how they acquired the materials and include a list of the materials, the original grant number, and the proposed revisions. OSHA must review and reapprove all material revisions. OSHA may review and approve only the highlighted revisions to the previously-approved grant materials, or OSHA may request to review the entire revised document. This requirement applies to training materials downloaded from the Susan Harwood Grant Products website or acquired directly from a previous Susan Harwood grantee.

OSHA posts grant-developed/revised training materials on the OSHA public website at https://www.osha.gov/dte/grant_materials/index.html. These materials cover various topics in multiple languages. Training materials revised under this grant will increase this valuable resource.

APPLICANTS DEVELOPING NEW TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS must submit classroom quality products. Applicants must follow the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) that focuses on quality measures for education and training products. The five major ISD phases are analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE Model). Go to http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/sat.html for more information.

Applicants should provide a well-developed concept about the training and educational materials they propose to develop, and include how materials will be developed and/or translated into a non-English language, if applicable. Include an estimated timeline to develop, evaluate, validate, and produce the materials. Explain how the proposed training and educational materials will fill an unmet training and/or training materials need, and describe how the materials will have broad applicability for other trainers and organizations.

Grantees are encouraged to review the guidance document “Best Practices for the Development, Delivery, and Evaluation of Harwood Training Grants” at https://www.osha.gov/dte/sharwood/best-practices.html. An updated publication, “Resource for Development and Delivery of Training to Workers,” is at https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3824.pdf. These resources address needs assessments, proven adult learning techniques, effective models for worker training, and training evaluation documentation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF DOL FUNDING is required on all materials developed or revised under the grant. These materials include promotional/program flyers and advertisement, training presentations, videos, handouts, student and trainer manuals, evaluations and testing instruments, student sign-in sheets, etc. Each material shall contain the following disclaimer:

This material was produced under grant number SH-____-SH_ from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Applicants revising previously-approved Harwood training materials must retain the original grant number in the disclaimer and acknowledge their revisions to the materials by adding the following statement after the original disclaimer:

Revisions were made to this material under grant number SH-____-SH_ from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

OSHA MUST APPROVE THE ENGLISH VERSION OF NEW AND REVISED GRANT MATERIALS before the grantee may conduct training or translate the materials into another language. Allow at least three weeks for OSHA to review materials for technical accuracy and suitability. If the grantee revises the materials after receiving OSHA approval, the grantee must submit the updated materials to OSHA for re-approval.

OSHA reserves the right to review the translated materials prior to their use. OSHA may request the grantee to certify accuracy of the translation by identifying the translator and providing the translator’s qualifications. Organizations proposing to develop Spanish-language training materials must use appropriate terminology from the OSHA dictionaries located at https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/spanish_dictionaries.html.

GRANTEES SHOULD PROMOTE the training they developed during the capacity building period on their website as free training until after the end of the last follow-on grant.

INTERNET POSTING REQUIREMENTS APPLY TO NEW AND REVISED MATERIALS developed with grant funds. Annually, the grantees must provide one (1) bound paper copy and two (2) electronic copies of the final training materials to OSHA no later than the last day of the grant performance period, September 30, 2019. Materials must be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. This act requires electronic and information technology (EIT) documents to be accessible for people with disabilities. To view Section 508 guidance checklists, go to https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/index.html.

3. TRAINING PLAN AND PROJECTIONS

PROVIDE A RECRUITING PLAN that describes the methods the applicant plans to use to recruit workers from the target audience for the proposed training. Describe past successes in reaching the target audience as well as any plans to work with other organizations during the recruiting efforts.

THE TRAINING PROPOSAL must focus on building training capacity with an identified occupational safety and health audience, topics, or industry. Provide a description of the method you will use to reach multiple employers and their workers. Explain the teaching methods, training locations, geographical impact, and projected number of trainees and contact hours. Describe the methodology used to develop the projections for total number trained and total contact hours for each type of training (train-the-trainer, worker, or employer by topic). Explain how you plan to involve workers actively during the training to create a participatory learning environment.

Grantees may not train an individual on a grant topic more than once during the grant period. Individuals trained at conferences, or as part of a needs assessment, are ineligible trainees, and are not reportable as workers trained or as training contact hours. Organizations awarded grants in consecutive years to train on the same topic must describe their processes to ensure they train different workers from the previous grant year(s).

TRAINING SESSIONS must last a minimum of 30 minutes, but may not exceed 7½ trainee contact hours per day. Contact hours refer to time spent covering course content. Trainee contact hours do not include breaks, lunchtime, or instructor-led minutes used for administrative activities such as trainee sign-in, general training site information, training presentation evaluation, or presentation of certificates of completion. If the training occurs over multiple days, the trainee must attend the entire training before the grantee may count them as trained, or include their contact hours in the quarterly report. Training that begins in one quarter, but ends in the next quarter is reported only in the quarter the training was completed.

RECOMMENDED TRAINING CLASS SIZE is between 3 – 40 trainees per class. To facilitate participatory learning with active trainee involvement, the ideal class size is between 10 – 30 trainees.

TRAINING EVALUATION AND TRAINEE ASSESSMENTS are important in validating training materials and improving the training presentation. Occasionally, the Department of Labor conducts a separate study on the impacts of the program’s training. In accepting grant funding under this program, the grantee agrees to fully cooperate with and provide any data needed by federally-sponsored evaluations of the training. Capacity Building Pilot grantees must administer level 1 training session evaluations and level 2 trainee assessments at each training session. Capacity Building Developmental grantees must administer level 1 evaluations and level 2 assessments at each training session, and conduct a level 3 impact assessment approximately three months after each training.

Table 1: Evaluation/Assessment requirements

LEVEL 1 - TRAINING SESSION EVALUATIONS measure how trainees react to the training experience including trainees’ perceptions of the training environment, instructor(s), and quality and usefulness of the training. Level 1 evaluations may be in writing or instructor-documented verbal satisfaction survey.

LEVEL 2 - LEARNING ASSESSMENTS measure the skills, knowledge, or safety attitude the trainee acquires and retains. The instructor must document the pre- and post-training assessment results of each trainee. Level 2 assessments may be written tests or instructor-documented oral pre- and post-training assessments. All pre- and post-assessments must measure the training objectives and match in content, format, and approach to document accurately changes in trainee knowledge and skills because of the training.

The grantee/instructor must maintain documentation of verbal- or activities-based assessments. Alternative pre- and post-test assessment methods may include having the trainees perform a task or interactive activity that demonstrates their knowledge before and after their participation in the training. Retain assessment details for OSHA monitoring purposes.

Level 3 - TRAINING IMPACT ASSESSMENTS measure the skills, knowledge, or safety attitude the trainee retains three months after training. The grantee must maintain contact information for trainees to contact the trainees three months after the training to assess changes in the trainees’ knowledge/skill level, change in their safety and health work attitude, and residual changes to their workplace because of the training. This information is valuable and grantees must complete level 3 assessments for all training classes. By the end of the grant period, the grantees must complete level 3 impact assessments related to all training occurring during the first three quarters of the grant period. Level 3 assessments for the fourth quarter trainings may be follow-on activity during the first quarter of the follow-on grant.

TRAINING PROJECTIONS define the proposed training sessions by type of training, course duration, projected number of trainees, and training contact hours. Include a table similar to the following:

Table 2: Training projections by training type and audience

TRAINEE NUMBERS AND TRAINING CONTACT HOURS are estimates of training results allocated to each quarter. Describe the methodology used to develop your estimates. Only Capacity Building Developmental grantee must adhere to the cost per trainee and cost per training contact hour restriction. Capacity Building Developmental grantees must limit the cost of the training to less than $500 per trainee and less than $125 per training contact hour. Projections must be a single number estimate (not a range) as shown in the table below.

Table 3: Training number and training contact hours

*Costs per trainee/contact hour are determined by dividing the total grant funding (federal and non-federal funds) by the total number of trainees or contact hours.

Note: This requirement does not apply to Capacity Building Pilot grants.

A TRAIN-THE-TRAINER PROGRAM allows the grantee to expand the distribution of their occupational safety and health training, ultimately reaching more workers. However, a train-the-trainer program requires more effort by the grantee to monitor the trainers, and acquire quarterly training, assessments, and evaluation results.

Grantees provide “tier-one training” to workers, employers, and trainees under the train-the-trainer component of the grant. The train-the-trainer component does not include training applicant’s staff.

After a trainee completes a train-the-trainer class, they may conduct “tier-two training” under the supervision of the grantee. Tier-two trainers may train workers and employers, but may not conduct additional tiers of train-the-trainer classes. Additionally, grantees may not use grant funds to compensate tier-two trainers. However, tier-two trainers must follow grant requirements and provide appropriate supporting documents to the grantee for inclusion in the quarterly reports. Grantees must formally monitor the training provided by the tier-two trainers to validate the quality of the training and to ensure they report the training numbers and contact hours correctly.

For applicants proposing to use tier two trainers, provide the following information about the tier-two training:

· proposed audience;

· proposed number of trainings;

· proposed number of trainees (workers and employers);

· proposed training contact hours;

· proposed process for acquiring the quarterly training, assessments, and evaluation data from the tier-two trainers;

· planned support to the tier-two trainers; and

· planned monitoring plan to validate training quality and reporting accuracy.

INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION must observe Constitution Day and Citizenship Day on September 17 in accordance with 36 USC 106, Consolidated Appropriations Act. The U.S. Department of Education requires every school and college receiving federal money to teach about the U.S. Constitution on the anniversary date of the adoption of the Constitution in 1787. Visit https://archive.opm.gov/constitution_initiative/ for relevant information. This grant does not fund these activities.

Fiscal Responsibility and Program Budgeting

In the technical proposal, the applicant must briefly describe the organization’s financial management process including any separation of fiscal duties and internal fund control.

THE FUNDS REQUESTED ON THE SF-424, APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE, BOX 18, TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER FUNDS SHOWN ON ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS. It is important all supporting budget information match the requested funds stated on the SF-424. Supporting budget documents include the SF-424A, Budget Information – Non-Construction Programs, the project funding stated on the application summary document, and the total funding allocated on the detailed budget and budget narrative.

The applicant’s budget and budget narrative must demonstrate the funds requested are sufficient to cover the cost of the project activities identified in the proposal. The federal share of the budget shall not exceed the maximum award established in this FOA. No additional federal funds will be available during the performance period.

Proposed costs must be necessary, reasonable, and follow federal guidelines. Allowable costs support recruiting activities, revising, developing, or purchasing training and educational materials, and conducting training on the identification and abatement of occupational safety and health hazards in the workplace. All costs must comply with federal cost principles found in the Uniform Guidance in 2 CFR 200 and 2 CFR 2900. Appendices E and J identify allowable costs for this program.

A DETAILED PROJECT BUDGET SUPPORT NARRATIVE must describe and justify the projected costs including the methodology for allocating the costs. Clearly describe the costs related to the program and administrative activities for the 12-month performance period as shown on the SF-424A, Budget Information. Cost categories must match the SF-424A categories, and be identified as either administrative or program as defined in Appendix E. The budget must include all grant funding (federal and applicant’s non-federal funds, if applicable).

The personnel and benefits cost categories of the detailed budget and narrative must include the names, positions, and percent of time the staff works on grant activities. For the other cost categories, provide detailed lists such as travel locations, supplies, services, and other necessary project costs. Show how the costs were calculated. For service contracts, state the purpose of the contract, anticipated duties, and method for calculating the costs. Contracts must meet the requirements stated in Appendix E.

ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS are costs that support the management and administration of the project. This includes salaries and benefits for the authorizing representative, financial certifying representative, administrative assistants, etc., who manage the grant and complete the reporting requirements, travel costs to attend OSHA-required meetings, and purchase costs for supplies and materials used for administrative tasks. Indirect costs are solely administrative under this grant.

The focus of this program is to assist organizations in developing occupational safety and health training capacity. OSHA has established a maximum allowance for administrative costs under this funding opportunity to be no more than 25 percent of the total funding amount (federal award and applicant’s non-federal funds).

PROGRAM COSTS are direct costs and services necessary to develop and conduct the training and education program. This includes salaries and benefits for the project director, developers, trainers, etc., travel costs to conduct training, and costs to purchase supplies and materials needed for the training development and presentation. Grantees may not use grant funds to compensate trainees or their employers during the grant period including refreshments, gift cards, stipends, or other enticements.

APPLICANTS PROPOSING TO PURCHASE TRAINING OR SAFETY EQUIPMENT must provide a justification stating why they are necessary for training development and presentation, and how they will enhance the program. If reasonable and justified, informational technology (IT) equipment purchases such as laptops, tablets, software, CPU/monitors, or projectors are allowed for training purposes only. Excluded is equipment with a useful life of more than one year, costs more than $5000, or is depreciable for tax purposes. This grant program does not support purchases to establish or update offices or training spaces including desks, tables, chairs, file cabinets, room dividers, technical equipment, machinery, or models. Information about allowable administrative and program costs is included in Appendix J.

APPLICANTS MUST IDENTIFY ALL VOLUNTARY APPLICANT RESOURCE CONTRIBUTIONS used to support the project. Describe the source of funds and amount. Include a statement that the use of the voluntary funds is consistent with the goals and objectives of this grant program. The applicant contribution may not include federal funds they receive from another agency.