OSHA offering training for disaster site responders
OSHA offering training for disaster site responders
Goal is to create skilled cadre of responders
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has created a Disaster Site Worker Outreach Training Program to protect workers responding to mass casualty scenes.
The new program was developed as a result of lessons learned following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the Skilled Trades Summit in Seattle that was co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Domestic Preparedness and OSHA. It is designed to train workers who provide skilled support in emergency response and recovery operations at disaster sites and raise awareness for workers and employers that pre-incident training is essential for ensuring disaster site worker safety and health.
The new training program includes a 16-hour Disaster Site Worker Course that emphasizes the incident command system, hazard awareness, personal protective equipment (including the use of air-purifying respirators), and decontamination.
The course will be taught by experienced construction safety and health trainers who have successfully completed the "train-the-trainer" course. Also included is a 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) course that provides the minimum level of training for workers engaged in hazardous substance removal.
A "Program Card" will be issued by OSHA’s Office of Training and Education to workers who successfully complete the courses.
The ultimate goal is to encourage the development of a cadre of workers who are highly trained to respond safely to natural and man-made disasters who can help ensure the continued protection for workers involved in recovery and cleanup efforts.
(Editor’s note: For more information, visit www.osha.gov.)
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has created a Disaster Site Worker Outreach Training Program to protect workers responding to mass casualty scenes.
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