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Western Region Universities Consortium

WETP Cooperative Agreement Awardee:

Principal Investigator / Institution

Linda Delp
Tel (310) 794-5964
Fax (310) 794-6403
ldelp@ucla.edu
University of California Los Angeles
Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program
Box 951478
Los Angeles, California 90095-1478
http://www.losh.ucla.edu/ 

Program Contact

Janis Heple
Tel (530) 757-8602
Fax (530) 754-5105
jaheple@ucdavis.edu
University of California Davis Extension
1333 Research Park Drive #251
Davis, California 95618-4852

Kevin Riley
Tel (310) 983-3059
Fax (310) 794-6403
kriley@ucla.edu
University of California - Los Angeles
Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program
Box 951478
Los Angeles, California 90095-1478

Target Training Populations

Western Region Universities Consortium logoThe Western Region Universities Consortium provides a range of training courses targeted to cleanup site workers, state and county emergency response personnel, hazardous waste and hazardous materials transportation personnel, and waste site assessment workers throughout the Western United States. WRUC has a long history reaching underserved workers; Consortium members collaborate with community-based and tribal organizations to provide training for underrepresented minorities, non-English speakers, those who are geographically isolated and/or with limited literacy skills.

 

Under our Hazard Disaster Preparedness grant, we provide emergency response training to frontline port workers in Southern California, to emergency responders in the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands, and to members of tribal villages along the Yukon River watershed in Alaska. Under our Minority Worker Training Program grant, we provide training to members of underserved communities in Los Angeles and Seattle to prepare them for jobs in green construction and environmental sectors.


Program Description

The Western Region Universities Consortium consists of five university-based programs in the Western United States. WRUC provides a full range of model health and safety training courses for geographically dispersed hazardous waste/materials workers in EPA Region IX (California, Arizona, Nevada and the Pacific Islands) and EPA Region X (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska).

 

WRUC offers a full range of Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) courses including hazardous waste cleanup and investigation, supervisor and refreshers; treatment, storage and disposal (TSD) facility and refreshers; first responder awareness operations, hazmat technician and incident commander, and refreshers; Department of Transportation (DOT) and refreshers; confined space; and hazard awareness. WRUC also provides train-the-trainer courses for maquiladora workers along the U.S.-Mexico border and for NIEHS trainers from other programs and participates in organizing national trainers' exchanges. Many courses are provided in Spanish..

 

In addition to training, other key objectives of the program include:

 

  1. Increase access to hazardous waste and hazardous materials training for workers and supervisors who are non-English speaking and/or have limited literacy skills through innovative outreach efforts, provision of multilingual and limited literacy materials, and targeted training.
  2. Train community-based environmental organizations to monitor hazardous waste site assessment and cleanup operations at hazardous waste sites in their communities.
  3. Expand outreach and training programs in collaboration with community-based and tribal organizations to reach underrepresented minorities who handle hazardous waste/materials at sites throughout the Southwest, in the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands and Alaska, and along the Mexican border.
  4. Partner with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to address hazmat and security concerns facing frontline workers at Southern California ports which rank among the largest in the world.
  5. Provide skills training and job placement opportunities in green construction, environmental remediation, and other green jobs sectors to underrepresented minority workers in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Project Duration

  • August 1, 2010 - July 31, 2015

Grant Numbers

  • U45ES06173

Other Participating Organizations

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