Training for Construction and Environmental Careers
The goal of the Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP) is to train individuals for jobs in the construction, environmental remediation, energy efficiency, and hazardous waste fields with a focus on recruiting from underserved, urban communities disproportional affected by environmental exposures.
Aims of the Program Include:
- Recruiting and training individuals from underserved communities in Los Angeles, CA, Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR, in a range of courses required for successful placement in construction and environmental careers. Training is designed to promote awareness of occupational health and safety hazards, instill the skills and confidence needed to take protective measures, and assure trainees become active participants in improving health and safety conditions in the workplace and communities.
- Providing support and identifying potential career pathways for each trainee through a program of consistent mentoring, from initial recruitment to job placement and retention.
- Placing an estimated 80 percent of program graduates into a variety of environmental and construction jobs or in building trade apprenticeship programs.
- Collaborating with grantees to share materials, training activities, curricula, and best practices.
Comprehensive Outreach and Recruitment
Strategic partnerships in each city support the program’s ability to conduct outreach and recruitment, training, and job placement. Program graduates are connected with job opportunities in construction, environmental remediation, residential weatherization and energy efficiency, infrastructure maintenance and retrofitting at local oil refineries, household hazardous waste collection, and medical and biohazard waste disposal.
The program relies on strong relationships with labor, community groups, community college districts, and environmental justice and workforce development organizations to recruit minorities and members of underserved communities. LOSH partners involved in recruitment include Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Los Angeles Vernon Central WorkSource Center, UCLA Black Worker Center, Los Angeles Trade Technical College, IBEW Local 18, Homeboy Industries, Venice Community Housing, Women in Non Traditional Employment Roles, and Los Angeles Alliance of a New Economy (LAANE).
Recent LOSH ECWTP Updates
In 2022, LOSH began partnering with the LA Black Worker Center’s Ready To Work (R2W) job training program under a new Worker Equity Demonstration Project (WED). The project is a partnership between the LA Black Worker Center, the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, and union and community partners to address the needs of Black workers in Los Angeles by creating new pathways to City employment. R2W recruits individuals for a multiweek job readiness program to prepare them for vacant City positions, and LOSH provides hands-on health & safety training, including a 40-hour HAZWOPER course. The program has successfully graduated 25 students to date, all of whom have secured City jobs in Refuse Collection, Waste Water Collection, and Environmental Compliance.
Acknowledgement
This program is made possible through a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Training Program (WTP). In a new report, an annual federal investment of $3.5 million in ECWTP generates a $100 million return, notes NIEHS. READ MORE
UCLA LOSH is the lead agency for the Western Region Universities Consortium (WRUC), a consortium of four university-based programs across the western United States. Partner agencies include Arizona State University, UC Berkeley, and the University of Washington.