Under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer
(STTR) Program, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker
Education and Training Program (WETP) recently made four new Small Business Innovative Research
(SBIR) Phase One awards and one SBIR Phase Two award. These awards were for the development of
innovative “e-learning” products for worker safety and health training. These awards total
$592,401.
Effective and economical, these particular electronic learning technologies are aimed at
specific training needs identified by the small business applicants often in partnership with
other NIEHS WETP awardees. Since September, 2002, the WETP has made 14 SBIR/STTR awards totaling
$2,148,045.
A description of each project is given below along with contact information for the principal
investigator. Following these descriptions is a summary of prior SBIR/STTR awards made by the
NIEHS WETP.
HaRT Training Innovation Project
Cyntelix, Inc. in collaboration with the Hazardous Materials Training and Research
Institute (HMTRI) at Kirkwood Community College will undertake the Hazard Response
Technology (HaRT) Case Study Training Innovation Project. The goal of the HaRT Training
Innovation Project is to construct an expert system with dynamic E-tools and semantic
Web search capabilities to standardize hazard response case study knowledge collection
and retrieval for Hazard Response Training enhancement in supporting the needs for the
chemical emergency responder and skilled support personnel community. The objectives of
the HaRT Training Innovation Project are to:
develop the needed methodology, which will integrate the capabilities of
Cyntelix's existing semantic web technology to the company's existing Expert
System and dynamic collaborative sharing, and E-work tools.
Construct the web based prototype for the HaRT Case Study database, which
integrates dynamic collaborative sharing, and E-work, and semantic Web content
search and retrieval capabilities.
Construct the web-based prototype for the HaRT Case Study database, which
integrates dynamic collaborative sharing, and Ework, and semantic Web-content
search and retrieval capabilities.
Pilot the HaRT Case Study prototype and methodology executed by Kirkwood
Community College, Hazard Materials Training and Research Institute, and the
Community College Consortium for Health and Safety Training.
Skilled Support Personnel play an integral role in any disaster response operation. However,
several reports have found that our nation's SSP are inadequately trained to respond to incidents
involving Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). These reports put forth dozens of recommendations
for how improve SSP training to prepare them for WMD events. One of the key recommendations was
that SSP be cross-trained in the roles of first responders. Cross-training simultaneously achieves
two goals: SSP will receive the same level of HazMat training as first responders, and SSP will
be able to more effectively assist first responders during a response because they will have a
deeper understanding of the first responders' responsibilities. A report by the Federation of
American Scientists found that new advanced simulation-based training technologies are needed to
meet the demands of WMD response training. To fill the training needs of the SSP, CHI Systems,
Inc., The Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and The National
Center for Biodefense at George Mason University will rapidly develop and deploy VIGILANCE,
a SCORM-compliant game-based training application that will harness the power of existing
gaming technologies to create a compelling and engaging training experience which will be both
easy to distribute and update. When completed, VIGILANCE will provide cross training to SSP by
allowing them to play the role of an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who is responding to a
WMD incident. VIGILANCE will have a highly realistic 3-D virtual world where SSP will act as an
EMT and work through scenarios based on the most current training requirements for EMTs.
HazCommand is a new multi-user software training environment for the HazMat domain that
enables much needed practice for command and control, one of the most important elements in
determining the success or failure of emergency response. Amethyst Research is building a
software product to evaluate its impact on training programs within the Philadelphia Fire
Department. Instructors log into the web software and select a scenario. Participants log in to
the virtual session and see visual and animated representations of the scene, and can navigate
independently around the scene to accomplish the given tasks. The flexible architecture, based on
Macromedia Flash, allows trainers of all skill levels to rapidly create realistic scenarios.
The Phase I hypothesis is that learning occurs during a computer-based drill that transfers to
performance improvement in a live-action drill. If the hypothesis is proven true, research in
Phase II will tackle the ultimate goals of demonstrating that this technology reduces training
costs and time, so as to allow for more frequent training, improve performance in live-action
drills and, by extension, real life incidents, and enable reliable evaluation of command skills
in scenarios that otherwise would be impossible to conduct in a live setting.
Through the work done during Phase I so far, HazCommand, marketed under the brand CommandSim
(www.CommandSim.com), (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/www.CommandSim.com) is already producing real results in the field for fire departments across
the US. It has been featured and used in training classes and workshops in several major fire
conferences. Its success draws from its highly-focused aim to solve specific, incident command
problems, and Amethyst Research's extensive expertise in applying simulation technology.
Responding to Hazmat Incidents-Interactive Case Studies
The Specific Aim of the research project is to design and develop an interactive virtual
experience that will reduce the risk faced by first responders when dealing with incidents
involving hazardous materials. If first responders, particularly fire fighters, follow a
systematic approach to handling emergency incidents, their safety and health will be better
protected. The title of the proposed training tool is 'Responding to HazMat Incidents-Interactive
Case Studies.' It will be targeted toward first responder organizations, such as the International
Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), to be used in their regularly scheduled instructor-led
training programs. The training tool will be developed for the DVD format.
DVD will enable MetaMedia to incorporate compelling and realistic interactive video simulations
of hazardous materials incidents, instructive computer animations, and engaging team exercises to
produce an effective training tool that successfully transfers knowledge. The aim of the HazMat
Incidents DVD is to create a training program that can be easily incorporated into existing
training curricula to improve the readiness of first responder organizations to safely handle
emergency incidents. The DVD will represent a technology innovation in instructor-led training.
It will take advantage of the unique features of DVD, such as high-quality motion video,
interactive branching, multiple audio channels, and low-cost delivery systems to bring real-world
simulations into the classroom. During Phase I of the project, MetaMedia and the IAFF will
determine the training needs of the target audience, design a training program to meet those
needs, and produce a working prototype of the product that will be evaluated in an actual
training session. Deliverables for Phase I will be a design document providing a blueprint for
building the training program, a working prototype providing up to 30 minutes of interactive
video, and an evaluation report describing the effectiveness of the HazMat Incidents DVD prototype.
The ATL Web-based Training Center (WBTC) is a fully integrated portal that provides
synchronous and asynchronous training from one access point for geographically dispersed
students and instructors and is flexible enough to adapt to differing training and learning
needs. This portal will be unique in its ability to integrate the asynchronous training
functions of a traditional learning management system and a document server/resource center
with synchronous features such as web-based conferencing, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP),
and desktop/application/document sharing.
Using the WBTC, hazardous materials workers, emergency responders, skilled support personnel
and others can receive high quality health and safety training over the Internet that
approximates many aspects of traditional classroom training-including the ability to inter-act
verbally with the instructor and other students. This is achieved through the implementation
of a variety of advanced training technologies including virtual classroom hosting and
instructor-led training using VOIP and video conferencing, custom-designed participatory
exercises enabled by application sharing, and exercises that combine self-study with group
report-back. Through the same WBTC portal they can also access SCORM-conformant self-paced
learning modules that complement the instructor-led and other “virtual classroom”
course content.
ATL is a small consulting firm providing safety, health, environmental, and training
services to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy,
the National Center for Environmental Health, and other government customers.
Founded 25 years ago, MetaMedia Training International, Inc. has developed customized training
programs for organizations, corporations, and government agencies. The company follows proven
instructional design principles to produce blended learning solutions using DVD, CD-ROM, the
Internet, and print media. Recent collaborations with the Center to Protect Workers' Rights (CPWR)
on NIEHS projects have resulted in the Disaster Response DVD, Emergency Response DVD,
Decontamination DVD, and Confined Spaces DVD. The specific aim of the NIEHS SBIR project is to
design and develop an interactive DVD training program for use by First Responders on the roles that
Skilled Support Personnel can play in disasters. If First Responders better understood the jobs that
the various construction trades perform, and the skills offered by each trade, the First Responders
could better utilize this important resource.
CogniTech Corporation develops, markets, and sells customized software solutions for data
collection, content management, decision support, simulation, and training. These technologies are
applied to a variety of domains, including emergency response, homeland security, risk assessment,
healthcare information systems, clinical trials, and scientific research. Their project will focus
on the development of e-product technologies to enable Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency
Response (HAZWOPER) training. It will also enable content reuse for delivery of short
incident-specific awareness training prior to entry into a response action. The delivery platforms
will include Computer-Based Training (CBT), Web-based training (WBT), handheld computer training and
reference materials. The e-product technologies will be capable of supporting multiple languages.
DCM Associates (DCMA) is a start-up with a proven team that brings together 75 years of
e-Learning, HazMat, and IT experience with Dow, Dow Corning, and IBM. The principals created Dow
Chemical's Dangerous Goods Handling course which has been translated into six languages. DCMA is
also supported by the Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor matching grant program. This project addresses
the need corporations have to meet their hazardous material training responsibilities. A curriculum
of transportation-mode specific courses is proposed. Each course is viable as a standalone for
familiarization or training, or incorporated into a classroom curriculum. Industry experts will
distill regulations to create focused training with sophisticated interactivity. Updates will
disseminate immediately via the Internet.
Northwest Training and Assessment, based in Portland, Oregon, is producing an innovative
computer-based instruction (CBI) program will supplement peer teaching of HAZMAT (hazardous waste)
classes. The CBI software that will supplement the HAZMAT training will ensure consistent teaching
and documented learning by each student. Selected content of UCLA's proven Hazard Communication
class will be presented in cTRAIN, a CBI program for creating and presenting content. Integral to
the technology is inclusion of pictures and movies, text in optional computer-generated or natural
voice English and Spanish, and a 9BUTTON response unit to overcome rejection by the computer-naive.
The key target of this program is immigrant workers with limited formal education because they
present the greatest challenges to training.
Y-Stress, Inc. is a small business located in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the
Pocono mountains. Their Training Technologies Division's goal is to make online learning accessible,
affordable, engaging and enjoyable. Y-Stress, working with the George Meany Center for Labor Studies - National Labor College (GMC-NLC) and the University of Massachusetts - Lowell (UMASS - LOWELL), will create an online Hazardous Waste Refresher Course and develop an open source e-learning portal and content library on www.safetywired.com to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among safety professionals. It will utilize streaming technology to incorporate text, audio, graphics, video, 3D animation, simulations and virtual reality to optimally deliver effective knowledge and skills based training scenarios to trainees on demand. Streaming technologies are the new standard for delivering high quality, highly interactive, low bandwidth web content across all browsers and platforms to engage users with a rich learning experience. All web based content will meet SCORM specifications so it can be shared across multiple environments and products. In addition, storing course content as small learning objects will allow content to stream over low bandwidth connections and reduce development time and
resources needed for future courses using similar content.
FOF Communications (FOF) is an informational design company with more than 20 years of
experience in research, print, video, CD, and web-based programs for government, non-profit, labor,
and corporate clients. The company's NIEHS SBIR project involves the development and evaluation of
e-HazTools an interactive, commercially viable software product to teach or learn the fundamentals
of practical chemistry for hazardous materials. e-HazTools, will hook into public chemical
databases to drive e-outcomes in questioning-method scenarios and problem-solving exercises.
Advanced Technologies and Laboratories International, Inc. (ATL) is a consulting company
specializing in health and safety, environmental protection and information systems. ATL is a
woman-owned, 8(a) certified small business based in Germantown, Maryland, with field offices in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Richland, Washington, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. ATL will develop and test
a Web-Based Training Center that integrates a set of web-based functions into a coherent
technology-assisted learning tool. This unique product will enable training techniques such as
virtual "small group activities" that draw upon the work experiences and skills of the training
participants in collaborative, "team" settings. It will retain the focus on "peer" worker-trainers
that is at the heart of most WETP-sponsored training.
New Leaf Interactive Media has specialized in creating interactive media content for education
and business. They are creating an immersive experience, using digital video, actors, and sets,
that will place hazardous waste worker trainees at the scene of an accident, encouraging them to
observe the various clues and formulate a plan of action. Each choice on the part of the trainee
results in immediate feedback. A choice that results in negative consequences gives feedback about
that consequence then returns the user to the menu screen to make a choice that works better.
A series of correct choices leads the worker to finish the exercise in about twenty minutes, with
video footage of procedures to reinforce correct methods. Incorrect choices might lead the user to
spend over an hour with the training disc.
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