General Program Description and Course Overview

The 40 Hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER). Designed for personnel who work with or respond to incidents involving hazardous materials, this course provides training to the technician level: those individuals responding to the incident to stop the release of hazardous substances. OAI's 40 Hour HAZWOPER course complies with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120.

Included topics and competencies:

- Knowing how to implement an employer’s emergency response plan
- Knowing the classification, identification and verification of known and unknown materials by using monitoring instruments and equipment
- Being able to function within an assigned role in the Incident Command System
- Knowing how to properly select and use specialized chemical personal protective equipment provided to the hazardous materials technician
- Understanding hazard and risk assessment techniques
- Being able to perform advance control, containment, and/or confinement operations with resources and personal protective equipment available to the unit
- Understanding and implementing decontamination procedures
- Understanding termination procedures
- Understanding basic chemical and toxicological terminology and behavior.

A written test is administered at the conclusion of the course. A yearly refresher is required to maintain credentials.

The 8 Hour HAZWOPER Refresher, which satisfies OSHA 8-hour annual refresher training requirements under 29 CFR 1910.120.

Topics include:

- Providing updated information on the classification of hazardous materials, detection and monitoring, use of protective equipment (including protective suits and breathing apparatus) and the implementation of safety practices.