HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response) training is available online, on the job site, and through other sources such as community colleges, labor unions, and companies that specialize in providing the training to the general public for a fee. Because the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recognizes nine different levels of training for certification, initial training time can range from 24 to 40 hours. To keep your certification, you must take an eight-hour refresher course every year. If someone has been certified in HAZWOPER training for more than a year without taking a refresher course, OSHA does not automatically consider the certification revoked. The official OSHA position is that the need for repeating initial HAZWOPER training is determined the employer’s knowledge of health and safety procedures, and refresher training should be completed as soon as possible.
OSHA-certified safety training is designed to be somewhat adaptable depending on the employee’s working environment. In worst-case scenarios, hospital staff, for example, are expected to have decontamination training at the First Responder Operations level. This is HAZWOPER level 6, which necessitates an extra eight hours of study over level 5 at the First Responder Awareness level. Official OSHA levels of training range from HAZWOPER training for general site workers, which entails 40 hours of instruction and three days of supervision in a training environment, to Scene Incident Commander, who must demonstrate competence in several subordinate levels of hazardous materials and emergency response measures.
Hazardous waste clean-up procedures, chemical contamination and environmental hazards, equipment hazards, safety and health procedures, and emergency First Responder protocols are all examples of emergency response situations. The training programs and OSHA certifications are designed to be customized to meet these varying needs within the context of the individual’s specific workplace. Online training programs frequently provide the most flexibility in terms of learning these procedures and becoming certified. However, OSHA will only accept computer-based refresher training if it is supplemented the student’s ability to directly ask questions of a qualified trainer and a further hands-on assessment of what has been learned.
The United States government lists five areas where HAZWOPER training is required, the first four of which all involve the required or voluntary clean-up of hazardous substances at federal, state, local, and other government sites, including hazardous waste storage facilities operated under EPA regulations. HAZWOPER training is required of all emergency response personnel who deal with hazardous substances, regardless of location, according to the fifth category. The employer or government agency in charge of the site determines the level of training required of workers.