Worker Training Program

The NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) delivers training that reaches a wide range of workers who handle hazardous materials and waste. This includes workers involved in construction, disaster response and cleanup, health care, nuclear weapons sites, chemical and manufacturing facilities, transportation, and more.

WTP grant recipients deliver training that reaches workers and communities across all states and U.S. territories. The section below provides detailed training summaries and metrics for each program area. For details about training activities in various locations, see the WTP State Profiles page and the Where We Train page.

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 (226KB).)

Highlights from the summaries include:

• Since 1987, the Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP) has supported the training of nearly 4 million workers for a total of more than 42.1 million contact hours.
• Over a 31-year period, NIEHS / U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) award recipients have delivered more than 10.1 million contact hours of safety and health training across the DOE complex. During that time, award recipients have trained more than 785,000 workers.
• Over 15,000 students have been trained under the Environmental Career Worker Training Program (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) award recipients have trained more than 300,000 workers, delivering more than 2.8 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 37-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Aug. 1, 1987 - July 31, 2024

NIEHS/DOE Nuclear Worker Training Program 31-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Sept. 1, 1993 - Aug. 31, 2024

NIEHS ECWTP (formerly MWTP) 29-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Aug. 1, 1995 - July 31, 2024*

* The 1996 – 2008 numbers include numbers from the NIEHS/EPA Brownfields Minority Worker Training Program.

NIEHS HDPTP 19-Year Training Summary for the Budget Period Aug. 1, 2005 - July 31, 2024