Capacity Building Developmental & Capacity Building Pilot | SHTG FY 23 03

Opportunity Information: Apply for SHTG FY 23 03

The Capacity Building Developmental and Capacity Building Pilot opportunity is part of OSHA's Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, a long-running discretionary grant effort created under Section 21 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The program funds nonprofit organizations so they can build and deliver workplace safety and health training and related education, especially for small business employers and workers. It is designed to reduce injuries, illnesses, and fatalities by improving hazard awareness, avoidance, and control, while also helping workers understand their rights and helping employers understand their responsibilities under the OSH Act. The funding emphasis aligns with the Department of Labor's broader Good Jobs Initiative by investing in training that supports safer, fairer workplaces for workers who are often overlooked or harder to reach.

This particular funding announcement prioritizes workers and employers in high-hazard industries, industries with high fatality rates, or workplaces where people have historically had less access to occupational safety and health training. OSHA specifically calls out populations such as young workers, temporary workers, minority workers, workers with low literacy, workers with limited English proficiency, and other disadvantaged or hard-to-reach communities. A notable feature is the program's push to expand access through multilingual training, encouraging grantees to provide instruction in languages other than English when that is what the target community needs. The program also supports training that covers workplace rights and protections, including education related to discrimination, reprisal, and retaliation protections connected to safety and health concerns.

Eligible applicants are primarily nonprofit or mission-driven organizations with the reach and credibility to train the intended audiences. Examples listed include qualifying labor unions; community-based, faith-based, and grassroots organizations; employer associations; Native American tribes and tribal organizations; Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian organizations; other native-controlled organizations that are not state or local government agencies; and public or state-controlled institutions of higher education. OSHA is looking for applicants that can show they have the capability to meet performance expectations, including the ability to develop subject matter expertise, deliver and administer adult training, recruit participants effectively from the target populations, and manage federal grant requirements responsibly.

For FY 2023, OSHA made up to $6.5 million available for these Capacity Building grants, with an expectation of multiple awards (the listing indicates an estimated 90 awards). Funding is competitive, discretionary, and contingent on federal appropriations, and the announcement itself does not obligate funds until an award is accepted. Awards support a 12-month project period that must begin no later than September 30, 2023 and end on September 30, 2024. OSHA also makes clear that grantees will be monitored for both program performance and financial compliance through activities such as orientation meetings, reviews of training materials, observations of training delivery, monitoring visits, and quarterly and year-end reporting.

The announcement offers two distinct paths depending on an organization's current readiness to build training capacity. The Capacity Building Developmental grant is the larger option, with a maximum award of $180,000, and it is meant for organizations prepared to build sustainable training capacity over time. A key requirement is that applicants submit a four-year plan explaining what training capacity they intend to develop and how they will build it. Developmental grantees are expected to be capable of conducting multiple trainings as part of the effort. The Capacity Building Pilot grant is the smaller entry option, capped at $80,000, intended for organizations that need to test and validate a new training approach or build-out before scaling. Pilot applicants must describe the training program they want to build and must run at least one pilot training on the selected topic to demonstrate feasibility. By the end of the Pilot year, Pilot grantees are expected to produce a four-year plan so they are positioned to apply later for a Developmental grant.

The grant program also places limits on how many Susan Harwood awards an organization can hold in a single fiscal year. An organization may receive only one award across the major Susan Harwood categories (Targeted Topic Training, Training and Educational Materials Development, Capacity Building Developmental, or Capacity Building Pilot). If multiple applications are submitted across these opportunities, OSHA will review only the last complete and viable submission received. Another practical detail is that once an application is submitted, it cannot be edited; any changes require submitting an entirely new application package.

Finally, this specific FY 2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement (SHTG FY 23 03; CFDA 17.502) had a hard closing deadline of July 7, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Applications had to be submitted and validated through Grants.gov by that deadline, or they would be deemed ineligible.

• The Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the employment, labor and training sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Capacity Building Developmental & Capacity Building Pilot" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 17.502.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 23, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 07, 2023 This FOA closes on July 7, 2023, at 1159 p.m. eastern time. Applications not validated by Grants.gov, or submitted after this deadline, are ineligible for consideration.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $180,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 90 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for SHTG FY 23 03

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: