NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety Training

Training activities aim to prevent and reduce work-related harm by equipping workers with the knowledge and practical skills needed to identify hazards and protect themselves, their coworkers, and surrounding communities from exposure to hazardous materials. Training for unemployed and underemployed workers to obtain environmental, hazardous waste and construction jobs in the environmental career worker training program is also included under this program. This program also enhances training capabilities for workers operating within Department of Energy (DOE) facilities and the nuclear weapons complex, where large numbers of employees are required to complete safety and health training due to the presence of complex and potentially unknown hazards. The program further seeks to build and sustain institutional competency within recipient organizations to develop and deliver high-quality, model health and safety training and education programs responsive to hazardous waste and material workforce needs and DOE-specific site conditions. A Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is supported that focuses on the development, dissemination, and commercialization of health and safety training products and tools from a variety of delivery methods to assist both students and instructors in the training and education process including e-learning. Topics related to hazardous waste, including electronic and biological waste (infectious agents and organisms such as vector-borne, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic organisms) and occupational exposure to materials and work processes are within mission for these applications. Note that all products must be directly related to the health and safety training of workers, skilled support personnel, emergency responders and/or volunteers exposed to hazardous materials (HAZMAT). Examples include novel approaches and tools that build capacity and improve understanding of environmental health topics and innovation in e-Learning in worker education and training. NOTE: This program does not offer support through the STTR mechanism.