Worker Training Program
Table of Contents
(Photo courtesy of Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center)
Since 1987, the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) has supported a national network of institutions that deliver high-quality, peer-reviewed safety and health curricula to hazardous waste workers and emergency responders in every region of the United States. The following reports, highlights, and training summaries describe some of the accomplishments and impacts of the program.
Annual Reports
Program Highlights
Success Stories
- Building Capacity with Native Americans and Alaska Natives to Handle Hazardous Materials and Respond to Emergencies (1MB)
- Combining Technology and Training to Protect Workers’ Health
- Community College Program Advances Worker Safety and Confidence (1MB)
- Denae King, Ph.D. – Joining Forces with Communities to Address Health Disparities
- The Historically Black Colleges/Universities Consortium (469KB)
- Innovative Training Program Improves Facility Safety, Empowers Workers, and Saves Costs (661KB)
- International Brotherhood of Teamsters Consortium (280KB)
- WTP Grantee Provides New Career Paths to Veterans (1MB)
Environmental Factor (NIEHS News) Stories
- Recovery-friendly workplaces on the rise, despite limited resources - September 2023
- Keystone Lecturer highlights Alabama Fire College tribal training - August 2023
- Admiral Levine commends Worker Training Program - July 2023
- We can do it: Empowering women in construction trades - April 2023
- American Indian and Alaska Native safety, health training showcased - January 2023
- "Building Pathways" fosters diverse pipeline in construction careers - December 2022
- At Brownfields conference, Worker Training grantees discuss Justice40 - September 2022
- Improving mental well-being, workplace health, and climate resilience - August 2022
- NIEHS program recognized for delivering jobs, environmental justice - July 2022
- Climate change impacts on workers, communities addressed at workshop - June 2022
- Language justice boosts worker safety, empowers people, experts say - April 2022
Summaries of Supplemental Funding
- Activities Funded by the Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (469KB)
- COVID-19 Appropriations Summary: Health and Safety Training During a Pandemic (3MB)
- COVID-19 Recovery Centers (119KB)
- WTP Coronavirus Activities: Results from 2020 Funding (538KB)
- WTP Coronavirus Activities: U45 2021 Program Year Funding (102KB)
- WTP COVID-19 Accomplishments Report (2MB)
Training Summaries
The following training summaries provide an overview of the total number of workers/students trained, courses provided, and course hours completed across the WTP program areas. The tables also highlight job placement rates for the Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP), known as the Minority Worker Training Program (MWTP) until 2014, and the NIEHS / U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Minority Worker Training Program (funded from 1998 to 2008). (See also the WTP Overview Flyer (166KB).)
Highlights from the summaries include:
- Since 1987, the Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP) has supported the training of more than 3.6 million workers for a total of more than 39.7 million contact hours.
- Over a 30-year period, NIEHS / U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awardees have delivered more than 9.3 million contact hours of safety and health training across the DOE complex. During that time, awardees have trained more than 720,000 workers.
- Over 14,000 students have been trained under the ECWTP and the NIEHS/EPA Brownfields Minority Worker Training Program, with 70% of program graduates finding jobs in environmental remediation or construction fields.
- Since 2006, HAZMAT Disaster Preparedness Training Program (HDPTP) awardees have trained over 247,000 workers, delivering more than 2 million contact hours of training.
** Note: The COVID-19 pandemic was declared on March 11, 2020. Training (and placement for ECWTP) numbers were impacted as a result of the pandemic.
NIEHS HWWTP 35-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Aug. 1, 1987 - May 31, 2022
| Year | Total Courses | Total Workers | Total Contact Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-1998 | 38,483 | 730,063 | 11,417,361 |
| 1999 | 3,981 | 74,013 | 956,251 |
| 2000 | 4,124 | 75,155 | 984,350 |
| 2001 | 4,806 | 79,710 | 1,031,394 |
| 2002 | 5,298 | 93,996 | 1,098,503 |
| 2003 | 5,586 | 95,265 | 1,132,682 |
| 2004 | 7,054 | 124,127 | 1,222,333 |
| 2005 | 7,663 | 130,837 | 1,211,824 |
| 2006 | 6,696 | 111,872 | 1,159,651 |
| 2007 | 7,848 | 131,037 | 1,425,059 |
| 2008 | 8,115 | 140,126 | 1,385,505 |
| 2009 | 8,308 | 149,488 | 1,458,660 |
| 2010 | 9,075 | 172,308 | 1,552,429 |
| 2011 | 7,775 | 134,539 | 1,306,807 |
| 2012 | 8,444 | 137,358 | 1,348,264 |
| 2013 | 8,607 | 142,141 | 1,407,102 |
| 2014 | 9,561 | 161,958 | 1,407,558 |
| 2015 | 9,300 | 164,346 | 1,434,561 |
| 2016 | 7,449 | 121,379 | 1,112,322 |
| 2017 | 7,382 | 112,622 | 1,057,864 |
| 2018 | 7,979 | 134,641 | 1,078,783 |
| 2019 | 7,697 | 121,647 | 1,131,218 |
| 2020 | 6,499 | 113,898 | 834,482 |
| 2021 | 7,113 | 106,670 | 715,013 |
| 2022 | 7,101 | 113,224 | 874,641 |
| Total | 211,933 | 3,672,226 | 39,742,481 |
NIEHS/DOE Nuclear Worker Training Program 29-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Sept. 1, 1993 - July 31, 2022
| Year | Total Courses | Total Workers | Total Contact Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 486 | 7,107 | 184,604 |
| 1995 | 1,091 | 13,566 | 249,704 |
| 1996 | 1,199 | 18,642 | 290,938 |
| 1997 | 1,277 | 18,394 | 244,212 |
| 1998 | 983 | 15,048 | 217,666 |
| 1999 | 922 | 14,049 | 202,997 |
| 2000 | 1,152 | 15,860 | 218,087 |
| 2001 | 1,379 | 18,833 | 245,436 |
| 2002 | 1,954 | 25,399 | 302,723 |
| 2003 | 1,959 | 23,187 | 303,633 |
| 2004 | 2,367 | 29,240 | 374,957 |
| 2005 | 1,961 | 25,442 | 329,840 |
| 2006 | 2,044 | 26,365 | 325,533 |
| 2007 | 2,283 | 34,074 | 402,635 |
| 2008 | 2,225 | 33,702 | 414,746 |
| 2009 | 2,265 | 36,266 | 530,271 |
| 2010 | 2,188 | 35,329 | 523,287 |
| 2011 | 1,987 | 31,238 | 405,556 |
| 2012 | 1,963 | 29,842 | 365,083 |
| 2013 | 1,790 | 27,737 | 309,977 |
| 2014 | 1,900 | 28,334 | 311,412 |
| 2015 | 1,830 | 26,396 | 323,316 |
| 2016 | 1,927 | 28,162 | 368,680 |
| 2017 | 2,066 | 32,202 | 389,786 |
| 2018 | 1,679 | 27,769 | 343,923 |
| 2019 | 1,795 | 29,714 | 368,276 |
| 2020 | 1,387 | 19,572 | 214,129 |
| 2021 | 1,901 | 23,095 | 280,377 |
| 2022 | 1,890 | 26,163 | 327,619 |
| Total | 49,850 | 720,727 | 9,367,259 |
NIEHS ECWTP (formerly MWTP) 27-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Aug. 1, 1995 - May 31, 2022*
| Year | Students Trained | Placed in Jobs | Percentage of Students Placed in Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-2008 | 7,566 | 5,115 | 68% |
| 2009 | 379 | 285 | 75% |
| 2010 | 531 | 372 | 70% |
| 2011 | 396 | 291 | 73% |
| 2012 | 366 | 274 | 75% |
| 2013 | 367 | 279 | 76% |
| 2014 | 348 | 269 | 77% |
| 2015 | 397 | 323 | 81% |
| 2016 | 440 | 334 | 76% |
| 2017 | 562 | 392 | 70% |
| 2018 | 569 | 423 | 74% |
| 2019 | 644 | 497 | 77% |
| 2020 | 455 | 270 | 59% |
| 2021 | 491 | 305 | 62% |
| 2022 | 512 | 366 | 71% |
| Total | 14,023 | 9,795 | 70% |
* The 1996 – 2008 numbers include numbers from the NIEHS/EPA Brownfields Minority Worker Training Program.
NIEHS HDPTP 17-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Aug. 1, 2005 - May 31, 2022
| Year | Total Courses | Total Workers | Total Contact Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 508 | 6,385 | 79,189 |
| 2007 | 653 | 9,095 | 99,623 |
| 2008 | 787 | 11,628 | 123,984 |
| 2009 | 701 | 12,267 | 111,772 |
| 2010 | 655 | 9,251 | 95,297 |
| 2011 | 660 | 8,870 | 85,348 |
| 2012 | 684 | 9,327 | 94,096 |
| 2013 | 825 | 12,465 | 112,668 |
| 2014 | 935 | 12,984 | 128,070 |
| 2015 | 899 | 12,953 | 145,699 |
| 2016 | 784 | 12,550 | 109,081 |
| 2017 | 839 | 12,238 | 127,783 |
| 2018 | 1,141 | 17,354 | 154,333 |
| 2019 | 1,284 | 18,660 | 174,131 |
| 2020 | 1,267 | 28,617 | 204,531 |
| 2021 | 880 | 28,283 | 221,195 |
| 2022 | 1,290 | 24,861 | 196,452 |
| Total | 14,792 | 247,788 | 2,263,252 |
NIEHS IDRT 4-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period June 1, 2016 - May 31, 2020**
| Year | Total Courses | Total Workers | Total Contact Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 374 | 7,051 | 32,619 |
| 2018 | 691 | 15,886 | 58,220 |
| 2019 | 639 | 12,783 | 54,339 |
| 2020 | 191 | 8,067 | 19,447 |
| Total | 1,895 | 43,787 | 164,625 |
** The IDRT program ended May 31, 2019, with some grants continuing training through May 31, 2020 under a no-cost extension.
COVID-19 Supplements+ 2-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period August 1, 2020 - May 31, 2021
| Year | Total Courses | Total Workers | Total Contact Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 279 | 8,263 | 12,857 |
| 2021 | 1,703 | 34,284 | 125,429 |
| Total | 1,982 | 42,547 | 138,286 |
+ COVID-19 supplement training numbers are included in HWWT, HDPT, or ECWTP as applicable and are not additional distinct training numbers.
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