Whereas, Philadelphia City Council President Darrell L. Clarke introduced Resolution No. 130546 authorizing the creation of a Special Investigating Committee on Demolition Practice in the City of Philadelphia, which was unanimously adopted by City Council members on June 12, 2013; and
Whereas, The Special Investigating Committee on Demolition Practices held five hearings over the course of three months and developed over 71 recommendations to reform construction and demolition permit requirements, worker training, and demolition practices in the City of Philadelphia. One such recommendation requires all workers on a construction and/or demolition project to have a minimum of OSHA 10 Certification; and
Whereas, OSHA recommends Outreach Training Program courses as an orientation to occupational safety and health for workers covered by OSHA 29 CFR 1926 which include construction and demolition workers. Workers also must receive additional training when required by OSHA standards, on the specific hazards of the job; and
Whereas, The OSHA 10 Hour Construction Industry Outreach Training Program is intended to provide an entry level construction worker with general awareness on recognizing and preventing hazards on a construction site; and
Whereas, The mission of the School District of Philadelphia Office of Career and Technical Education (CTE) is to deliver the highest quality CTE programs that provide students with the opportunity to acquire challenging academic and technical skills, and thus be prepared for the high-skill, high-wage, and high priority occupations of a competitive 21st Century global economy; and
Whereas, In five years, every CTE Program and Career Academy will be fully enrolled with a total enrollment of 12,000 students, 30 new CTE programs will be opened, state of the art career and technical education high school will be opened; and
Whereas, Every CTE program will have the same curriculum, equipment and opportunities for students, teams of trained administrators and teacher leaders in every school with CTE, full involvement of business, industry and community stakeholders in every program, and programming will be enhanced by resources outside of the District; and
Whereas, The strategic plan for the CTE aims to (1) provide the highest quality CTE programs and Career Academies that are aligned to workforce development; (2) increase access to CTE Programs and Career Academies for all students, including English Language Learners (ELL), Special Education, and returning, overage and adjudicated students; and (3) ensure equity for all CTE programs and career academies across the District; and
Whereas, Offering OSHA 10 training as part of all CTE curriculum will allow the School District of Philadelphia to give students entering the construction and/or demolition workforce the requisite safety training and certification to be competitive and employable on a construction or demolition jobsite in Philadelphia; now therefore, be it
Resolved that the Council of the City of Philadelphia, Hereby calls on the School District of Philadelphia to provide a pilot OSHA training and certification in the curriculum at both day and night programs at Overbrook High School and West Philadelphia High School.
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the School District of Philadelphia, and the Community College of Philadelphia provide OSHA training and certification in the curriculum at all career technical education programs and OSHA curriculum and certification training be offered in all regional public school CTE programs by the appropriate school district.
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