You may have the best spill response products from Impact Absorbents onsite for any emergency, and the best intentions for spill containment and spill clean up. That’s a great start. But how well trained are your team members? Are they prepared to spring into action when a spill clean up emergency arises?
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences offers Worker Training Program (WTP) resources to bring your team up to speed on how to handle an oil spill clean up situation. The training tool PowerPoint and accompanying booklet focus on:
- What an oil spill is
- Characteristics of an oil spill response
- How to identify and control hazards pertaining to response and clean up activities associated with an oil spill.
The NIEHS also offers two different levels of training for oil spill workers:
- 40-hour Training Course: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. Commonly known as HAZWOPER training, this is part of the Institute’s ongoing worker training offered through NIEHS and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Target audience: supervisors and individuals who will have direct contact with oil spill products.
- 2- and 4-hour courses on Safety and Health Awareness. Together with OSHA, the NIEHS developed several short educational courses, including some online training, that focus on the necessary hazard awareness and safety training for all oil spill workers. Target audience: individuals who will have minimal contact with oil spill products.
In addition to the above, one of the best steps you can take to keep your team safe in any spill clean up or spill containment situation is to develop and implement a SPCC (Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure) plan. This post explains exactly how to do that.
