Hazardous Material Worker Health and Safety Training (U45), Cooperative Agreement

Alabama Fire College, Tuscaloosa AL

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Abstract

The Center for Labor Education and Research (CLEAR) at Jefferson State Community College, is applying for funding through a cooperative agreement with the NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program under RFA: ES-09-004 through both the Hazardous Waste Worker Training (HWWT) and Hazmat Disaster Preparedness Training (HDPT) programs. CLEAR proposes to improve the health and safety of two populations of workers: (1) Native American tribal members and employees, and (2) public safety personnel. The program will reduce the likelihood of worker exposures during hazardous material emergency response operations by providing specialized training in topics related to OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.120. CLEAR will offer courses nationwide to Native Americans, a population of 2.4 million, including tribal members and employees who may be first to respond to hazmat releases, mass casualty incidents, clandestine drug laboratories or other hazmat events. Such personnel would include tribal police officers, conservation officers, firefighters, environmental officials, emergency planners, and public works employees. The project will target public safety personnel within the southeastern U.S., a population of 171,390 fire and rescue service and law enforcement personnel. Both populations have in common the potential for exposures to hazardous materials during emergency incidents, the need for hazardous materials training, and insufficient training budgets. Training will be provided using existing curricula and participatory techniques. Courses to be provided with the HWWT funding include Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations; Incident Command Systems; Hazmat Air Monitoring; Confined Space Rescue; Respirator Fit Testing; Mass Casualty Incident Triage, Clandestine Drug Lab Awareness; Radiological/Nuclear Awareness; WMD/All Hazards Awareness, and National Incident Management Systems. Courses to be provided with HDPT funding will be Responder Safety Awareness and Basic Disaster Life Support training. Peer training will be encouraged and supported through Trainer Support Network. The proposed program will train over 9,500 trainees, not including computer-based training. The total cost of the five-year project is $4,067,948.