University of Alabama Cuts Ribbon on FORTE Workplace Safety Training Hub

The University of Alabama cut the ribbon on a new workplace safety training hub on Friday, where industrial workers and students alike can gain hands-on experience to minimize the risk of accidents.

The building is called the Facility for Outreach, Research, Training and Education, or FORTE, and will house UA's Safe State OSHA training institute education center.

Dr. Clifford Henderson, the Dean of the College of Engineering at UA, said its impact on the workforce in Alabama is hard to overstate.

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"Our unit here in the College of Engineering UA Safe State really is the major worker safety training and education across the state," Henderson said. On a yearly basis, we help hundreds of companies and thousands of workers get experience and training related to industrial safety, environmental hygiene and other related areas."

As Alabama leaders continue their efforts to attract manufacturers and other industrial companies to the Yellowhammer State, Henderson said FORTE is another feather in our cap to aid both new and existing companies.

"As we grow as a state and really as a region, in terms of expanding manufacturing and the larger industrial base, we have more and more workers in the environment," he said Friday. "That means there are more and more workers who need that experience and that training we provide through UA Safe State and our other college activities as well."

The FORTE building replaces the former Tuscaloosa Music Building, located at 1408 2nd Avenue, just before the new bridge over the railroad.

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