EKU agreement will allow professionals, students to enhance OSHA safety and health skills

Students can earn undergraduate credit

RICHMOND, Ky. (Sept. 10, 2014) — A newly signed agreement between the Eastern Kentucky University OSHA Training Institute Education Center and EKU’s Occupational Safety and Health academic program will give working professionals across the country and students the opportunity to enhance their skills and earn undergraduate credit at EKU.

The OSHA Training Institute Education Center in the Perkins Building on the university’s Richmond campus, one of only 27 such centers nationwide, serves approximately 11,500 professionals each year from throughout Kentucky and nearby states. Just across Kit Carson Drive, EKU’s nationally acclaimed academic program in Occupational Safety and Health will now accept the certificates of successful completion and/or certified letters of completion of 50 OSHA course contact hours for each one hour in its undergraduate program, up to 600 OSHA course contact hours, or 12 academic hours.

EKU will provide a team of enrollment advisers and marketing staff through an existing educational services agreement with Pearson Embanet.

The EKU Occupational Safety Program is one of the largest programs at EKU, serving more than 600 students in online and traditional campus settings.

Established in 2003, EKU’s OSHA Training Institute Education Center (OTIEC) serves the eight-state Region IV and offers a variety of safety and health training. EKU draws upon the expertise of internationally recognized safety and health professionals to develop and provide quality training. With unique training facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, the Center provides hands-on learning, further enriching participants’ knowledge and understanding and offers customized on-site training to meet specific organizational needs.

In addition to the open enrollment courses, the Center has increasingly in recent years provided training for military bases throughout the country. Customized courses have been delivered at Fort Knox and Fort Campbell in Kentucky, as well as Fort Rucker (Ala.), Fort Bliss (Texas), Robins Air Force Base (Ga.), McConnell Air Force Base (Kan.), and Kanoehe Marine Corps base (Hawaii), as well as U.S. Army bases in Japan and South Korea.

Many who take the OSHA courses through EKU go on to train others via the Outreach Training Program.

In 2011, the EKU OSHA Training Institute Education Center signed an educational partnership agreement with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet Department of Workplace Standards to advance their common goal of workplace safety.