The NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program In 1986, Congress created the Worker Education and Training Program (WETP), a nationwide grants program, administered by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), to train current and future hazardous waste workers and emergency responders. Whether in toxic dumps, contaminated urban areas, nuclear weapons complex facilities, or abandoned factories across the country, WETP-trained workers perform dangerous and difficult jobs every day. Their training ensures that cleanup will be performed safely, in such a way as to protect people present at the site as well as members of the surrounding community. Almost one million American workers have been trained under WETP.

NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program HAZWOPER TRAINING Utilizing Advanced Training Technologies Ruth Ruttenberg, John Moran, and Don Elisburg 1999 In April 1999 the Worker Education and Training Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences sponsored a technical workshop, “Computer and Internet-Based Training for Safety and Health.” Over 70 training experts from around the country attended – worker trainers, professional trainers, government officials, representatives of labor and management, and academicians. More than a dozen groups demonstrated their state-of-the-art work in distance training. The resulting consensus report first reviews the array of distance learning that is available electronically and, then, focuses on how to merge the best aspects of virtual training with the best of hands-on, interactive, face-to-face training. The current opportunities and limitations of existing technology are discussed and guidelines for its use suggested.

QUESTIONS TO ASK In order to best asses how appropriate ATT might be for HAZMAT worker training, the following questions are suggested:  To what degree is the participant familiar with the ATT being considered?  To what degree is participant interaction with fellow participants possible?  To what degree is participant interaction with the facilitator possible?  To what degree is facilitator interaction with participants possible?  To what degree are worker trainers able to utilize and be an integral part of the training?  To what degree can the participant use written forms of educational material?  To what degree can ATT facilitate hands-on activities?

 What is the role of each type of ATT in the broadly defined training world?  Can the technology replace the classroom completely?  Is the appropriate role for the ATT to assist for only a portion of the training time?  What is the maximum time period that certain technologies should be used?  Can the technology be used to supplement the training period as a resource?  How compatible is each element of hardware and software with other resources within the training program?  How compatible is each element of hardware and software with other resources of other organizations that the training program interacts with? QUESTIONS TO ASK (continued)

ADVANCED TRAINING TECHNOLOGIES: WHAT ROLE IN HAZMAT TRAINING? Advanced Training Technologies (ATT) provide both opportunities and potential barriers to Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) training for workers with Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response responsibilities. The challenge: how to enhance worker training with advanced technologies, while recognizing the quality training that comes from the hands-on site-specific peer training that is the basis for most NIEHS-supported HAZMAT training. On the side of ATT:  It = s here; it = s use is expanding rapidly. Some on-line 8 hour HAZMAT refresher training has already gotten the go-ahead from OSHA. $ATT can provide uniform training to a large number of people without the costs of travel for trainers and trainees. $Once developed and hardware is in place, the unit costs are low. Hesitations about ATT:  Training is no longer based on face-to-face contact with peers B trainees or trainers. $Hands-on experience is no longer core to the training. $ATT may put more burden on workers to obtain their own training, rather than receive it from their employer.

Continuing questions as yet unanswered: $Can on-line participants in the training process continue to learn meaningfully from one another? $Can ATT provide a quality level of learning and experience? $Is there something unique about HAZWOPER training that makes the adoption of distance learning more challenging than for other types of training? The effectiveness of current NIEHS-awardee HAZMAT training is documented in evaluations from each and every project that has been funded. Every awardee group receives peer review prior to funding. Projects are constantly monitored by NIEHS staff. Evaluation is an integral part of every training program. The Minimum Criteria for HAZMAT training developed by NIEHS awardees is a non-mandatory OSHA Appendix to An external review board of experts evaluated the NIEHS program and lauded its approach and successful outcomes. To keep on the cutting-edge, NIEHS training must continue to grow and improve. With such a successful program, each potential contribution, such as ATT, must be carefully assessed. ADVANCED TRAINING TECHNOLOGIES: WHAT ROLE IN HAZMAT TRAINING? (continued)

THE FUTURE NIEHS has recently funded four pilot ATT projects among its awardees. A pending RFA asks for all awardees to consider ATT in their proposals for future training activities. All uses of ATT will be carefully evaluated to glean from them lessons, positive and negative, that can be generalized to other training programs. Whether multimedia through CD-ROM or DVD, teleconferencing, computer networking through intranet or internet, or any of a variety of courseware applications, there are strengths and weaknesses of each. Developing media selection guidelines for training is one goal. Combining the best uses of technology with the proven value of hands-on site-specific peer training is another. Simulation, where mock sites are not available, is a possible use of advanced technology. Web-based resources can be used to answer questions and provide additional resources. Intelligent tutoring systems may be another application. Which skills can best be taught on-line vs. which need hands-on person-to-person or site-to-person interaction deserves careful study. How much small-group activities and sharing of lessons learned can be adapted to on-line activities, still needs to be tested through a variety of pilots. When advanced technology is used it is important to assume adequate opportunities to all -- difficult since many don't have sufficient access to needed hardware and software. The verdict is still out. ATT is being used. NIEHS-awardees are moving cautiously, so as to be sure to enhance, not weaken, the training models that have already proven so successful.

Technical Workshop: HAZWOPER Training, Utilizing Advanced Training Technologies Organizations represented included:  Alice Hamilton Occupational Health Center  American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees  American Industrial Hygiene Association  California/Arizona Consortium University Extension, UC Davis  Center to Protect Workers’ Rights  Clark Atlanta University, Environmental Justice Resource Center  Community College Consortium, Hazardous Materials Training & Research Institute  DePaul University  Elisburg Law Offices  Gaspard Group, Inc.  George Meany Center for Labor Studies, Railway Workers Hazardous Materials Program  HAMMER Training and Education Center  Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory  International Association of Fire Fighters  International Brotherhood of Teamsters  International Chemical Workers Union, Center for Worker Health & Safety Education  International Union of Electrical Workers  International Union of Operating Engineers  Jackson State University  Laborers-AGC Education & Training Fund  Lockheed Martin, Idaho Technologies  Miami-Dade Community Colleges, School of Fire and Environmental Sciences

 Midwest Consortium, University of Kentucky  Mountain Top Technologies, Inc.  National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety & Health Training  National Environmental Education and Training Center, Inc.  Netsolutions Coporations  New England Consortium, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Work Environment Program  New Jersey/New York Consortium, EOHSI, Centers for Education and Training  New Perspectives Consulting Group  North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources  Opportunities Industrialization Center West  Paper Allied/Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers, International Union  Public Health Institute  RDT Associates, Inc.  Ruth Ruttenberg & Associates, Inc.  Step, Inc.  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers  U.S. Department of Energy  U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Worker Education and Training Program  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health  U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Training Institute Technical Workshop: HAZWOPER Training, Utilizing Advanced Training Technologies (continued)

 U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA, Salt Lake Technical Center  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Headquarters  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7  UCLA LOSH, SEIU Training  United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, International Union, (UAW)  University of Alabama at Birmingham  University of Michigan  Xavier University, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Young Community Developers, Inc. Technical Workshop: HAZWOPER Training, Utilizing Advanced Training Technologies (continued)