OSHA Class Participants Benefit from New Contracts and Save Money with OSHA Certification

In late February and early March, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) class was taught by Sheldon Primus at Mission of Love Charities. Several of the participants have their own businesses and needed OSHA certification to succeed.

Marie Wood is owner of Eleanor’s Environmental Services LLC. Her business is to perform a final clean on new construction projects. She needed OSHA certification in order to be competitive and bid for contract jobs. Since receiving her certification at Mission of Love Charities (MOLC), she recently won a contract for MCN Build, to clean a new senior housing project that is being built in Washington D.C.

Wood learned some useful things in the class. “I learned which construction hats are appropriate for my type of business,” said Wood. She also learned about chemicals and the proper way to read labels and use chemicals. “I learned about fire safety and chemical safety as well as the proper use of ladders in the class,” said Wood.

Now that she is OSHA certified, her business changes for the better. She is able to bid on larger jobs and grow her business. “I will be more competitive and retain more contracts,” said Wood.

Another class participant, Emmit Hagans, has a dog kennel business, Emmit 3D Kennels. For him, obtaining the OSHA certificate was voluntary. He learned a lot of useful information in the class. “Safety is always first in this business,” sad Hagans. He learned about, “Safety with equipment around the workspace, operating tools, working with cranes, operating vehicles, how to use sharp tools and being more aware of trucks and trains,” said Hagans. He is building his own kennel soon and needed to be made aware of safety hazards surrounding this project.

“OSHA made me aware about safety in the form of prevention of problems before they begin,” said Hagans. Now that Hagans has his OSHA certificate, he saves money because he does not have to rent a space to keep the dogs – he can build a kennel of his own.

As far as safety around the dogs, Hagans was educated about the use of chemicals and what not to do. For instance, he should never mix ammonia and bleach or it will produce a bad chemical reaction. Hagans was unaware of this prior to the class. He learned he needs to be careful what types of cleaning chemicals he uses around the dogs. The OSHA class taught Hagans how to read the labels on chemical containers.

For safety while handling the dogs, Hagans said he needs specific equipment. This includes a dog bite sleeve and a whelper. Both are used on the body to protect against teeth and claws while training the dogs. For Hagans, this is necessary Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in his profession. The class taught him to take all of this into consideration.

Overall, Hagans found the class was fun and informative. “The instructor, Sheldon Primus, was amazing. He gave demonstrations and good examples of how to be safe,” said Hagans.

Both Wood and Hagans have found a benefit in their businesses from taking the OSHA class. The class was free to participants, which also saved them some money. OSHA certification classes can cost $350 or more. Mission of Love Charities provides this class free of charge to the community so participants can become certified and know how to stay safe while at work.

“Without the support of friends and supporters along with our government officials we cannot provide services,” said Deborah Martinez, CEO of the Mission. “Our core values are to provide hope and that’s what we do with financial assistance,” she added.