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NIOSH Publication No. 2004-173:Worker Training in a New Era: Responding to New Threats |
August 2006 |
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This document is the report of the October 26 and 27, 2002 conference held at the Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Health and Safety in Baltimore, Maryland on the topic of worker health and safety training. The goal of the conference was to identify worker health and safety training needs for various industrial sectors related to weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons and explosives (CBRNE). Contents
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Figure 1. Recommended generic training elements for all workers
with a risk of exposure to new CBRNE threats. All workers would receive
pre-event training. Asterisk (*) indicates training that applies
to specific workers, such as first responders, skilled support personnel
and others involved in emergency response, and post-emergency response
operations. This framework does not include trade-specific knowledge
and skills. HAZWOPER is the hazardous waste operations and emergency
response standard (29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65). |
On October 26 and 27, 2002, the Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Health and Safety held a conference on worker health and safety training in Baltimore, Maryland. The goal of the conference was to identify worker health and safety training needs for various industrial sectors related to new threats, including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) weapons. Conference planners wanted to:
More than 200 attendees, many of them experts in worker training, CBRNE, public policy, or emergency response, participated in the conference.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent use of anthrax in the mail as a weapon, much attention has focused on bolstering the security and preparedness of various public and private systems in the country. This includes public infrastructure, such as the public health system and public safety sectors, and many private sector enterprises, such as the postal and transportation industries. Many of these organizations had already engaged in considerable activity even prior to this time, but these events spurred even greater efforts.
The hazards associated with weapons of mass destruction are already part of the landscape of the American workplace, although they are typically used in a controlled fashion and are not intentionally introduced to cause harm. Workers in many industries work with or are potentially exposed to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and
explosive (CBRNE) hazards on a regular basis. Agents or conditions capable of causing fire and explosions are routinely found in many workplaces (although not
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Figure 2. The HAZWOPER
standard |
typically on the scale of the attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) or the Pentagon on September 11, 2001). Highly toxic and reactive chemicals are manufactured, transported, stored, and used every day in large quantities. Nuclear materials are used in the nuclear energy industry, as well as in the defense industry. Radiological agents are used widely in industrial non-destructive testing, medicine, research, and in many other industries.
Because of the hazardous nature of certain types of work, worker training is an essential aspect of occupational safety and health programs. Many U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards include a component of worker training. One example of a training requirement already in place that applies specifically to potential terrorism incidents is the HAZWOPER standard (29 CFR 1910.120 and 40 CFR 311)1. This standard requires health and safety training for employees involved in the emergency operations on a site, who are or could be exposed to hazardous substances and health hazards (see Figure 2). It also includes provisions for both emergency response operations (§1910.120(q)) and for post-emergency response operations, such as cleanup or decontamination (§1910.120(e)). Other Federal agencies with worker safety and health standards also require specific training for emergency conditions or operations.
1The HAZWOPER standard (29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65) describes requirements for employers and workers engaged in five different types of activities: (1) clean-up operations at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites; (2) clean-up operations at sites covered by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA); (3) voluntary clean-up operations at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites; (4) operations involving hazardous wastes at treatment, storage, or disposal facilities covered by RCRA; and (5) emergency response operations involving the release or potential release of hazardous substances, which includes chemical, biological, and nuclear agents. |
Recognizing that worker training is an essential element of preparedness for terrorist incidents involving CBRNE threats, this conference was convened to identify core knowledge and skill requirements common to workers in many different industries who might be the targets of these types of attacks.
Conference participants included union members, private-sector employers, government agency officials, and members of the academic and professional public health communities. The themes of the conference were: (1) a review of previous lessons learned about how different types of training worked in the recent events involving acts of terrorism and workplace violence; (2) how these lessons are being applied in various occupational sectors; and (3) what conference participants considered the most important general and occupation-specific training objectives for workers who might be exposed to CBRNE events in the future.
This document was a joint effort of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
This document is in the public domain and may be freely copied or reprinted.
To receive documents or other information about occupational safety and health topics, contact NIOSH at:
NIOSH- Publications Dissemination
4676 Columbia Parkway
Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998
Telephone: 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674)
Fax: 513-533 8573
Email: pubstaft@cdc.gov or
visit the NIOSH website at www.cdc.gov/niosh
Editor: Clifford S. Mitchell, MS, MD, MPH
Associate Public Health Professor
Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Clifford Mitchell (Chair)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Jacqueline Agnew
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Brenda Cantrell
George Meany Center for Labor Studies
Richard Duffy
International Association of Fire Fighters
Richard Fairfax
U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Lynn Goldman
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Joseph “Chip” Hughes
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
William Kojola
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
Marilyn Null
U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
Henry Payne
U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Rosemary Sokas
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Corey Thompson
American Postal Workers Union
APR | Air Purifying Respirator |
CBRNE | Chemical, Biological, Radiologic, Nuclear and Explosive |
CDC | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
DOT | Department of Transportation |
EMS | Emergency Management System |
EPA | Environmental Protection Agency |
ERG | Emergency Response Guidebook |
ERS | Emergency Response System |
FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency |
HAZMAT | Hazardous Materials Management |
ICS | Incident Command System |
LEPC | Local Emergency Planning Committees |
NFPA | National Fire Protection Association |
NIEHS | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
NIOSH | National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health |
OSHA | Occupational Safety and Health Administration |
PEMS | Postal Emergency Management System |
UICC | Unified incident command center |
WMD | Weapons of Mass Destruction |
WTC | World Trade Center |
2004-173.pdf |