Who should take Hazwoper training?
He  Should!
The rest of you - read on!

Introduction

Safety Training! Which course do I need? Where can I get it? The regulations are so confusing and there are so many of them. What is a person to do?

Well stop worrying and read on. We have created our exclusive interactive training selection guide for you. Now you can just answer a few job related questions and our guide presents you with the training course(s) you need. And in the particularly complex world of OSHA Hazwoper training and DOT hazardous materials requirements, we have done your research for you. On the rest of this page you may read simplified and detailed explanations of what is required from you.

• Exclusive Interactive Course Selection Guide
• The Easy Explanation About Hazwoper
• The Detailed Explanation About Hazwoper

Interactive Course Selection Guide

In order to assist you in selecting the proper hazardous materials or safety course, we have created an interactive course selection guide. On each page select the answer that best describes your involvement with hazardous materials. Your selection will lead you to a few more choices, after which you will be provided with a recommended Hazmat School training course. This guide includes industrial safety courses as well as hazardous waste and emergency response operations. This guide is a 96K file and may take a few moments to load. Alternatively you may read the more detailed explanations below.

The EASY Explanation About Hazwoper

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects of the Hazwoper regulation is to determine first, if it applies to you, and then to ascertain which Hazwoper training program is required for you. This can be confusing since there are a total of 17 different Hazwoper courses, if you consider each program as having its own refresher course. Below is a common sense approach that might be useful to you.

First Responder Awareness: Does your job require you to be involved in emergency response to incidents where hazardous materials or chemicals are involved? For many people, the answer is yes. You might be a Police Officer, Paramedic, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Public Works employee, or even a member of an Emergency Response Team (ERT) at a site where chemicals are found. If you do respond to any sort of release of a hazardous material, OSHA requires that you take one of five levels of training. All of the levels start with the First Responder Awareness (FRA) course. FRA personnel are those whose job requires them to respond to a release of a hazardous material, recognize the situation as one requiring specialized assistance, and call for help.

Our simple-to-take program, Course #1007, will help you to understand your role and steer you to further training programs should they also be required. It is presented in an easy to understand format and is filled with activities. A certificate documenting compliance with the OSHA requirement is presented upon completion. For those who are already certified to the FRA level, this course would satisfy the requirement for your annual refresher course.

24-hour Hazwoper Occasional Site Worker: This certification is needed if you work in any of the following capacities: someone who works at a hazardous waste clean up site on an occasional basis like an engineer, project manager, or a surveyor; or, someone who regularly works with, or cleans up hazardous materials or wastes with exposures within "permissible" levels and that do not require the use of respiratory protection. Our Course #1082 fulfills the requirements for certification under 29 CFR, Part 1910.120 (e) as an Occasional Site Worker.

Hazwoper Refresher: Everyone who has taken the 24- or 40- hour OSHA Hazwoper course knows that they are required to maintain their certification by taking an eight-hour annual refresher course. OSHA regulations mandate that the annual Refresher course be at least eight-hours in length and should be taken prior to the expiration date of your current certificate. For many of us, the burden of taking time away from work to meet this requirement is more than we can stand. Hazmatschool.com has two options to help you fill this requirement from anywhere you are with Internet access and on a time schedule that you set. Either course fully satisfies the requirements for all states including those with their own OSHA.

Course #936, our basic Refresher course, covers all of the required topics for your annual refresher program. An overview of toxicology, physical properties, identification systems, the Hazwoper regulation, respiratory protection, and personal protective equipment are part of this course. The course is geared to allow those with minimal computer or Internet experience, and who only have the basic software packages to easily cover the topics. Almost all Internet browser systems will work well with the course. Everyone who has taken it comments on the helpful examples, practical exercises, and the useful links that are incorporated into the course. Additionally, any difficulty with the material or course can easily be handled through a link directly to the Instructor's email. For those who want the ease of taking a Refresher course online and with limited effort, this is the course for you.

Course #1088 is the "higher tech" version of our basic Refresher course. Like the other Refresher program, the Refresher Plus covers regulations, toxicology, physical properties, identification systems, respiratory and personal protective equipment. What makes the course a little more unique is its use of simple animations using Flash. The animations help to illustrate concepts such as vapor density, miscibility, and specific gravity. If you are comfortable using your computer to work on the Internet, and you have the Flash animation software that is part of most newer browsers, this is the course for you. Also, this program is loaded with more information, interactive exercises, links to useful web-sites, and a direct link to the instructor's email should any questions arise.

Hazwoper Supervisor: Are you someone who supervises the activities of those who have 24- or 40- hour Hazwoper certification? If you do supervise either General or Occasional Site Workers, OSHA requires that you take an additional training program. Course #1000 is the required course for those who need to be certified to the Hazwoper Supervisor level in accordance with 29 CFR Part 1910.120. In order to obtain certification as a Supervisor under the regulation, you also must be certified as either a General or Occasional Site Worker in accordance with 29 CFR, Part 1910.120 (e). Like our other online courses, our Hazwoper Supervisor is filled with exercises and interactive projects that help you to learn the material in a self-paced manner. Upon completion of the course, a certificate is issued that shows that you have fully satisfied the OSHA requirements for a Hazardous Waste Supervisor.

DOT Hazmat Employee: If your job involves you in any way in the handling, packaging, or preparation of hazardous materials that are transported, the U. S. Department of Transportation requires that specific training and certification be maintained. Typically, this involves those who work in shipping departments, mail rooms, and even truck drivers. The required DOT course, formerly called HM-181 or HM-126, requires that the training be done initially and that a refresher course be conducted every three years. For most people who handle packages with DOT labels, fill out shipping papers, or even transport shipments which contain hazardous materials, our DOT Basic Hazmat Employee Course #1058 is a necessity.

The Detailed Explanation About Hazwoper

Hazwoper Training Programs

A. Hazwoper is actually broken into three main areas. These include:

1. hazardous waste cleanup activities,
2. activities at Treatment Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDF), and
3. emergency response.

Each of these areas have their own individual programs for training. To find out which one is for you, simply answer the following questions:

Do my employees work in an area which has hazardous waste materials in the area and which has been classified as a hazardous waste site by a governmental body?

Am I working on a project where a requirement for working at the site would be to have Hazwoper certification?

Generally speaking, a yes answer to either of these would require you to have the 24 or 40 hour Hazwoper training. These are referred to as Waste Worker courses. If neither of these applies to you, go on to section D later in the page. If they do apply read on.

B. To find out which of the Waste Worker courses is required, answer the following questions:

At the hazardous waste site where we work, will my employees be exposed to levels of chemicals above the 8 hour Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) established by OSHA?

At the hazardous waste site, will my employees be expected to wear levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) or some type of respirator to protect them from the chemical hazards?

If the answer to either of these is yes, then the 40 hour Hazwoper course is the correct one to take. This is often called the General Site Worker course. If the answer to both of these is no, then the 24 hour Hazwoper course is the correct one for you. The 24 hour course is often called the Occasional Site Worker course. Specific requirements for this are found in the Hazwoper regulation, section (e).

C. The next question to ask regards supervision at a hazardous waste site. If you work at a site where Hazwoper training is required as noted above, you likely are required to have a Hazardous Waste Supervisor at the site. Generally, supervision at such a site requires someone to oversee the operations in accordance with the regulations and to ensure that the number of other requirements of the Hazwoper regulation are met. If you have employees working with Hazwoper certification, you should look at getting your supervisors certified. If you need to do this, simply take the Hazwoper 1000 course on our site.

D. If your employees work at a designated TSDF as defined by your a governmental body, then you are required to have the 24 hour TSDF worker training program. Specific requirements for this are found in the Hazwoper regulation, section (p). If this does not apply to you, go on to section E.

E. Now for refresher training for the first groups. If you have taken either the General Site Worker, Occasional Site Worker, or TSDF worker courses previously, and meet the items outlined above, you are required to have an eight-hour refresher course each year. Your certification is good for only 365 days. The requirements for the refresher training can be met by successfully completing Hazwoper 936 or 1088, the Hazwoper refresher training programs offered online on our site. Keep in mind that some site specific training is always encouraged by OSHA to ensure that personnel are adequately trained to the specific issues at the site. We encourage students to communicate with our staff via email as they take the program to discuss some of these issues.

F. Now on to emergency response. If your employees are expected to respond to a chemical release during the course of their employment, they are required to have one of the five levels of emergency response training in accordance with section (q) of the Hazwoper regulation. OSHA leaves it up to the employer to determine which level is needed based on the what you expect the employee to do. Simply put, you train them to do what you want them to do. The five levels are as follows:

• First Responder Awareness level (FRA)
• First Responder Operational level (FRO)
• Hazardous Materials Technician
• Hazardous Materials Specialist
• Hazardous Materials Command

To determine which of the five levels is required, review the following information and determine which is closest to what you expect your employees' role to be in the event of a chemical release.

When a material is released, I expect my workers to immediately leave the area and to not take any action to limit the spill. They should simply leave the area, initiate an evacuation of the area, and notify the appropriate authorities.

If this is the level of response expected by you, the personnel should be trained and certified to the First Responder Awareness level. This course will be coming to our site soon.

When a material is released, I expect my workers to initiate actions to limit the spill of the material without becoming contaminated with it. They should not expose themselves to any of the material at any time. If possible, I would like them to try to minimize the spill by diking the material and keeping it from getting into storm drains, by turning off valves to stop the flow of materials if it is safe to do so, and to initiate evacuation efforts.

If this is the level of response expected - the personnel should be trained and certified to the First Responder Operational level. This course will be available online at Hazmatschool.com in the near future.

When a material is released, I expect my workers to initiate whatever actions are needed to limit the size of the spill, reduce the consequences of the spill, and clean the spill up when appropriate. These workers will be provided with the required personal protective equipment (respirators and clothing) to safely work with the materials, and to approach the point of release to control it without becoming contaminated by it.

If this is the level of response expected - the personnel should be trained and certified to either the Hazardous Materials Technician or Specialist levels.

When I do have a spill of material in my facility, I expect someone from my organization to oversee the operation and the handling of that spill through its cleanup. This person would be someone on my staff who would know how to establish a system to safely manage such an incident and safely provide a command and control system for the safe handling of the incident.

If this is the level of response expected - the personnel should be trained and certified to the Command level. While not on line yet, watch the site for this in the not too distant future.

G. Emergency response refresher training is required but is not very specific in the regulations. Generally speaking, personnel certified to either the FRA or FRO levels can satisfy their refresher training program by repeating some or all of their original class. This generally works since many people at these levels have limited involvement in actual hazardous materials response and may not have experienced a great deal during the year of their certification. In these cases, simply take the courses for FRA and FRO on the online Hazmatschool.com website. For those with higher levels of training, significant amounts of hands-on practice is necessary. While some of the refresher requirements can be handled using online training, some field work with the PPE and equipment is generally required.

If you still have questions or have a situation that is a bit unusual, email our Remote Instructors™ now. Many people get confused by this very complex regulation.

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