Long-term objective of the NTF DOE training program is to empower DOE site workers through training to become engaged in the safety and health and through mechanisms like the 851 Rule to protect themselves, their coworkers and their community. The NTF is proposing six specific goals (aims) for the next five years. 1) Use the NTF train-the-trainer peer model to produce qualified and motivated peer-trainers. The NTF will continue to expand the target population to include more management and engineering groups. The NTF will annually train 15 new instructors and refresh an average of 208 instructors to maintain a viable cadre of peer instructors that can be used for DOE complex-wide training. These instructors will in turn annually train an average of 2,198 students. 2) The NTF will expand its training presence through outreach to four additional DOE sites by collaborating with new contractors/ subcontractors and reaching out to contractor/ subcontractor managers and training directors. 3) Continuously improve NTF instructors'credentials by helping them to obtain OSHA Master Trainer Status authorization through annual offerings of one or two new or updated existing courses. The NTF's Strategic Training Plan specifically supports the OSHA Safety and Health Specialist Certificate and Master Trainer Status programs. 4) Use the 8-hour HAZWOPER Refresher as the mechanism to inform the target audiences of the most recent developments and to introduce new topics, such as the 851 Rule, Integrated Safety Management and nanotechnology. 5) Expand, improve and update course curricula based on the training needs assessments at targeted DOE sites being conducted by NIEHS. This will provide instructors the necessary tools to accomplish the training in goal #1. The curricula will be uniformly structured with a goal to continue moving from 30 to 60 percent hands-on activities for most courses. 6) The NTF will judiciously pilot test new technologies to improve existing safety and health training delivery and integrate those that prove successful into the collaborative learning approach that the NTF has championed in the 40-hour HAZWOPER training. The NTF is using Blackboard to create an online clearinghouse, an online community system and a platform for delivering multiple classes online.
This program will train DOE site workers to recognize hazards in the workplace and apply effective controls to protect themselves, their coworkers and their community;empowering them to work safely conducting hazardous waste operations, facility decommissioning and decontamination, environmental restoration of contaminated facilities and chemical/radiological emergency response at the DOE complex.
