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

University Of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell MA

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Project Summary Since 1987, The New England Consortium-Civil Service Employees Association (TNEC-CSEA) has been providing participatory hands-on HAZWOPER training and disaster preparedness training to workers throughout the New England region and New York State. TNEC New England's previous experience in disaster preparedness training includes: training for municipalities beginning in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina and after the 2006 Mother's Day flooding in the Merrimack Valley region, and continuing to the present in collaboration with Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, and working with numerous municipalities throughout the region, in the form of 4-6 hour disaster preparedness courses; through supplemental funding in 2016-17, 4-6 hour disaster preparedness training for municipalities and state agencies in Massachusetts; throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, 2-3-hour online/virtual disaster preparedness training for community organizations, volunteers, local public health departments, and citizens. In addition, TNEC/New England's previous experience in infectious disease training in 2008-09 (avian flu), 2014 (Ebola), and 2020-2023 (COVID-19). TNEC-CSEA supported recovery centers in eastern Massachusetts (MassCOSH) and the Naugatuck Valley region of Connecticut (CTCOSH) in 2021-23, and in 2022-23 with the Lowell Community Health Center and the Coalition for a Better Acre (Lowell, MA). TNEC-CSEA's proposed program has four (4) principle components: 1) a partnership with the Lowell Community Health Center in Lowell, MA, to train community health workers and community residents on Disaster Preparedness, Infectious Disease Awareness, and CPR/First Aid; 2) a partnership with the Coalition for a Better Acre in Lowell, MA, to support and expand their disaster preparedness and infectious disease training programs for community members, non-profit workers, and CBA's staff; 3) an expansion of MassCOSH's partnership with the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers to provide training and support on disaster preparedness, and continue and expand MassCOSH's disaster preparedness related training, through community partners, for a variety of vulnerable workers throughout Massachusetts; and, 4) TNEC New England would conduct 4-hour Disaster Preparedness courses, to be offered asynchronously and in-person/virtual, as well as 8-hour Disaster Preparedness and 15-hour Disaster Site Worker in-person courses, all for community, environmental justice, and volunteer organizations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.