International Union of
Operating Engineers

WETP Cooperative Agreement Awardee:

Principal Investigator/Institution

Target Training Populations

Target Training Populations for HWWTP:

• 260,000 hoisting and portable (H&P) engineers skilled in operating and maintaining heavy construction equipment who are potentially involved in hazardous waste sites or hazardous materials emergency response and emergency response at any disaster site declared a hazardous waste site under 29 CFR 1910.120 (http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_ document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9765) .
• 100,000 stationary (building) engineers responsible for maintaining heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; water systems; and other critical infrastructure in large commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential structures.
• Members who may be required to clean, repair, disassemble, etc., mold-contaminated HVAC and other building systems and heavy equipment operators who may be involved in the demolition of mold infested facilities.

Target Training Populations for HDPTP:

• 260,000 hoisting and portable (H&P) engineers skilled in operating and maintaining heavy construction equipment who are potentially involved in hazardous materials emergency response and emergency response and clean up at any disaster.
• 100,000 stationary (building) engineers responsible for maintaining heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; water systems; and other critical infrastructure in large commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential structures.
• Workers nationwide in critical infrastructures such as ports and waterways, pipelines, hospitals, hotels, refineries, petrochemical plants, stadiums and arenas, and power-generating facilities.

Targeted Training Populations for DOE Nuclear Worker Training Program:

• Skilled trades workers, managers, scientists, engineers, and other workers at DOE sites who are required to have HAZWOPER and related safety and health training. Workers who are, or have the potential to be, employed on demolition, decommissioning, and decontamination projects at any of the DOE nuclear weapons facilities.

Program Description

The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) and its consortium members provide training under the EPA Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP), HAZMAT Disaster Preparedness Training Program (HDPTP), and the Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Worker Training Program. The National Training Fund has developed a training plan to provide hazardous materials, homeland security disaster (emergency) response, OSHA, and other health and safety related training to its membership, its contractors, DOE site workers, government agencies, and other organizations in every region of the country.

HWWTP and HDPTP:
The overall goal under these programs is to train workers to work safety in hazardous waste cleanup, hazardous materials emergency response, disaster response, and related fields. The programs will also train workers for response to disasters related to weapons of mass destruction and natural forces. Specific goals for the programs include:

• Annually refresh master instructors and train new instructors using the train-the-trainer approach to produce qualified peer-trainers nationwide.
• Annually train new workers and refresh returning workers of the target populations in the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) site worker courses, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) outreach courses, and train workers in other appropriate courses for this project.
• Use 8-hour HAZWOPER refresher training as the primary vehicle for alerting target audiences to the most recent developments and to leverage the IUOE skilled workforce to be well prepared for disaster response.
• Implement the OSHA “Master Trainer” authorization for IUOE master instructors, and the OSHA Disaster Site Worker (DSW) “Program Card” for IUOE membership.
• Enhance and revise training materials and modules focused on the latest issues in safety and health for the IUOE local union training programs and target populations.

DOE Nuclear Worker Training Program:
The overall goal under this program is to annually train new workers and refresh returning workers of the target populations in the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) 24- and 40-hour site worker courses, and other related (and appropriate) health and safety topics.

• Continue to expand the target populations to include more management and engineering groups, and to enhance the National Training Fund's training presence at various DOE sites by staying updated on new subcontractors at DOE sites and reaching out to subcontractor managers and training managers.
• Use refresher training as the primary vehicle to alert workers at DOE hazardous waste sites to the most recent safety and health developments, particularly decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) issues and homeland security.
• Continue to expand and improve realistic hands-on training and further develop performance-based evaluation.
• Enhance evaluation and quality control procedures to ensure the highest quality in the National Training Fund's DOE training efforts.

Project Duration

• September 1, 2005 - July 31, 2010 (HWWTP, HDPTP)
• September 1, 2005 - August 31, 2010 (DOE)

Grant Number

• U45ES06182 (HWWTP, HDPTP)
• U45ES09763 (DOE)

Other Participating Organizations

• ATL, Inc.
• West Virginia University (WVU) Safety and Health Extension

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