Rutgers High Road Employer Program

Since 1993, the Rutgers Occupational Training and Education Consortium (OTEC) has partnered with employers, unions, worker centers, and community and faith-based organizations to provide workplace health and safety training to thousands of workers throughout New Jersey. 

We encourage workers and employers to use a systems-based approach for developing, improving, and maintaining a proactive workplace culture of safety. The goal has always been to assist managers, supervisors, joint labor-management health and safety committees, and frontline workers to develop strong and sustainable safety and health management systems resulting in fewer worker injuries and fatalities.

Building on our many years of experience, we have created the Rutgers High Road Employer Program, also known as the Rutgers OTEC COVID-19 Systems of Safety Compliance Program, to ensure that health and safety are a top priority as businesses reopen and return to full capacity.

Through one-on-one consultations, Rutgers OTEC helps employers to understand, promote, and adhere to OSHA’s compliance-driven occupational health and safety standards and CDC best practices for reducing the spread of COVID-19. The program also empowers workers to uphold these standards, while reassuring customers that the risk of exposure to the virus is reduced.

In order to qualify as a High Road Employer, business owners must encourage their employees to get vaccinated and regularly tested for COVID-19 and to register for a comprehensive, two-hour COVID-19 training course. Business owners who complete the program receive a Rutgers OTEC High Road Seal of Approval to display on their storefront and they are publicly recognized in Rutgers OTEC multimedia campaigns.

The program is totally free to business owners, and workers are paid for their training time through a state grant. For more information and to sign up, please contact:

Anna Barcy, Project Coordinator
Rutgers Occupational Training and Education Consortium (OTEC)
asb170@scarletmail.rutgers.edu
732.674.8362