The Sustainable Workplace Alliance (SWA) proposes to provide model training and outreach to workers engaged in emergency preparation and response activities. The overarching goal of this program is to prevent work-related harm by assisting in teaching first responders how best to protect themselves and their communities from exposure to hazardous materials during emergency response. For the last seven years, SWA and its alliance partners have been leading the HAZMAT P.A.C.T. (Pacific Atlantic & Caribbean Training) initiative, and as a continuation of that initiative, we will focus on providing outreach in Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Hawaii. Additionally, we will service the U.S. Territories of the Pacific Islands, including American Samoa, Guam, Palau, and the Northern Mariana Islands. These locations are especially vulnerable to severe weather related emergencies compounded by the effects of climate change. Our needs assessments for other grant programs have identified other emergencies such as oil spills, overturned tanker trucks, factory fires, ammonia & chlorine leaks and first responder exposure to opioids as being current concerns for first responders and we will provide training in these areas. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, worker populations in our geographic targets include nearly 94,000 workers serving as first responders, including fire, police and paramedics. Trainees would typically be employed as fire fighters (career and volunteer), HAZMAT response team members, police or paramedics. Additionally, Community Emergency Response Team members, Local Emergency Planning Committee members and first receivers at hospitals. Over the five year duration of this Hazmat Disaster Preparedness Training Program (HDPTP), SWA will conduct 245 classes, train 3,205 responders and cover 38,000 contact hours. This model training and outreach program is designed to reduce injuries and death has an obvious positive effect on public health. By providing HDPTP outreach to first responders and citizen response teams, we will foster whole community resiliency and develop responders that are less likely to cause harm to themselves, the community and the environment while performing their job as a responder.
