The University of Alabama's Center for Labor Education and Research is applying for funding under the NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program. The proposed project aims to improve the health and safety of four populations of workers: 1) members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), 2) Native American tribal members and employees, 3) public safety personnel, and 4) emergency medical service (EMS) personnel and hospital-based first receivers. 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 members of CWA-a population of over 700,000 workers in telecommunications, manufacturing, health care, publishing, and law enforcement. Training for Native Americans, a population of 2.4 million, will be offered throughout the U.S. to tribal members and employees including 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 162,990 fire and rescue service and law enforcement personnel. The program will also target a population of 14,865 EMS personnel and hospital-based first receivers-including EMTs and nurses, patient care technicians, and other emergency care providers-in Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. All four target 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 include Hazardous Materials Awareness, Operations, and Technician; Incident Management Systems; Basic and Advanced Air Monitoring; Confined Space Rescue; Respirator Fit Testing; Handling Contaminated Patients; Mass Casualty Incident Triage, Clandestine Drug Lab Awareness; Radiological/Nuclear Awareness; WMD Awareness; and Training Techniques. Peer training will be encouraged and supported through a new computer-based Trainer Support Network. The proposed program will train just under 13,000 trainees, not including computer-based training.
| Mukherjee, S; Overman, L; Leviton, L et al. (2000) Evaluation of worker safety and health training. Am J Ind Med 38:155-63 |
