TNEC is applying to the HWWT program. The primary goal is to provide hazardous waste worker and/or emergency responder health and safety (H&S) training to 800 workers per year for five years in five New England states (MA, CT, RI, NH, VT). The project will train 40% of workers in multiple-day courses (24-hour Emergency Responder or 40-hour Hazardous Waste Site Personnel). TNEC will train 60% percent of workers in Refresher, Supervisor / Incident Commander / NIMS, or Awareness Level ER training, including Hazard Disaster Preparedness training related to chemical, biological, radiation/nuclear and explosive agents (CBRNE) (all 8-hour programs). The intended purpose is to support the implementation of HAZWOPER H&S programs to prevent occupational illnesses, injuries and fatalities, including during emergency response to accidental or deliberate releases of CBRNE agents that could adversely affect workers and neighboring communities. The participatory design of the training, uses empowerment-oriented worker education methodology, and encourages trainees to practice, workplace H&S decision-making.
Specific Aim 2 is to continue and expand several ongoing initiatives by strengthening outreach and marketing efforts to increase its client base of 2,190 private and public sector firms and organizations. It will include collaboration with the OSHA Education Center at Keene State University and the UML Center for Industrial Competitiveness. TNEC will expand partnerships with state agencies and municipalities in need of """"""""all hazards"""""""" H&S training for emergency response, public health, and criminal justice personnel. Secondly, the applicant will continue to utilize the integration of existing advanced training technology based training modules and maintain the integrity of hands-on and small group activities with computer and web-based training. These modules will incorporated into emergency response training courses. TNEC intends to incorporate web-based modules for in-class and after-training access, through a partnership with Y-Stress, Inc., a current NIEHS WETP SBIR program awardee. The applicant will also continue to provide 40-hour HAZWOPER training courses for Minority Worker Training Programs, that target low-income young adults from underserved, urban communities, and help to increase their workforce and the employment opportunities.
Specific Aim 3 is to sustain the capacity of TNEC member organizations to lead and support the regional and national H&S movement by supporting and strengthening the capacity of the COSH organizations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island as essential resources for high quality, technically accurate, and educationally appropriate worker-oriented safety and health training, and further enabling them to provide health and safety training to hazardous waste/emergency response workers;continue to strengthen U MASS Lowell's worker H&S education capacities;and continue to build strong links among public health professionals, worker health educators, and labor movement health and safety activists in order to maintain high quality training for hazardous waste workers and emergency responders.
