DeKALB – The Chicago Transit Authority and the National Safety Education Center recently celebrated the completion of the Safety and Health Fundamentals Certificate Training Program.

The program is the only OSHA-approved certificate for public and private sector employees.

Northern Illinois University partnered with the Construction Safety Council and National Safety Education Center to create an OSHA-authorized education center for the program. The program’s goal is to improve safety practices and reduce workplace incident rates, according to a news release. The CTA provided training designed for its employees’ work environment and duties.

The program had eight CTA employees complete 68 instruction hours. The training featured a series of OSHA courses and relevant safety and health topics to the CTA’s daily operations.

“Providing a safe work and transit travel environment is CTA’s top priority, and a critical tool to achieving this is by ensuring our workforce receives OSHA-authorized training and education,” CTA General Manager of Construction Safety and Engineering Ben Noven said in a news release.

The training was held one half-day a week from January to June at CTA offices. The program combined classroom-based lectures with participant discussions.

The CTA employees learned how to help reduce workplace incidents and improve safety.