Western North Carolina Workers Center

The Western North Carolina Workers Center is a non-profit organization that provides occupational safety and health training services to workers, particularly those in high-hazard industries and underserved or disadvantaged groups. The organization has received federal funding through grants to develop and deliver free training programs aimed at educating workers on recognizing, avoiding, and preventing workplace hazards, as well as informing them of their rights under occupational safety laws.

The majority of the Western North Carolina Workers Center's federal grant funding has come from the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) through the Occupational Safety and Health Susan Harwood Training Grants program (CFDA 17.502). These project grants have enabled the organization to create curricula and directly provide training to teach at-risk, hard-to-reach workers hazard awareness and avoidance techniques, with a focus on high-hazard industries where workers may lack access to adequate safety training. Funding has also supported pre- and post-training assessments to demonstrate increased safety knowledge among trainees. Additionally, the Women's Bureau awarded a grant through the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Technical Assistance Grant Program to fund outreach, educational dissemination, navigation services, and assistance connecting underserved and marginalized working women to rights and benefits. Across these grants, the Western North Carolina Workers Center primarily conducts activities directly rather than through subrecipients.