Improving Safety and Health Training for Disaster Cleanup Workers
May 3-5, 2011
Mobile, Alabama

Purpose and Scope of the Workshop
The Worker Education and Training Program's (WETP) spring awardee meeting was held on May 3, 2011. The workshop was held May 4-5, 2011. Both meetings took place at the Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel in Mobile, Alabama.
This meeting examined the training-related Deepwater Horizon Oil response activities (as seen through the eyes of the Worker Education and Training Program, WETP awardees, federal partners, community-based organizations, workers and other stakeholders) and discussed elements of pre-incident and deployment-phase training for support personnel performing cleanup work. In addition, policies to best ensure that workers receive that training (in a language and a literacy level they understand) before being deployed to work were explored.
Agendas
- Spring 2011 Awardee Meeting Agenda (323KB)
- Spring 2011 Workshop Agenda (337KB)
Attendees
Workshop Report
Presentations
Awardee Meeting:
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Time | Topic |
---|---|
1:00-2:00 p.m. | Welcome Joseph "Chip" Hughes, WETP, DERT, NIEHS |
2:00-2:45 p.m. | NIEHS Update (2MB) Joseph "Chip" Hughes, Sharon D. Beard, Ted Outwater, Jim Remington, Kathy Ahlmark, Pam Clark and Wanda Boggs, NIEHS |
2:45-3:00 p.m. | Clearinghouse Update Deborah Weinstock, NIEHS National Clearinghouse/MDB, Inc. |
3:00-3:45 p.m. | SBIR Update (3MB)
|
4:00-5:00 p.m. | Concurrent Sessions
|
Workshop:
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Time | Topic |
---|---|
8:30-8:45 a.m. | Welcome and Moment of Silence Kenneth Oldfield, Jefferson State Community College |
8:45-9:15 a.m. | Workshop Overview
|
9:15-9:30 a.m. | Oil Spill Response under the National Contingency Plan Compared with the Typical and More Likely Stafford Act/FEMA-led Response National Response System (398KB) John Ferris, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management |
9:30-10:30 a.m. | Lessons Learned from Community Partnerships This panel consisted of representatives from community-based organizations who discussed their constituents' experiences with training, training materials and working in the field. Moderators: Sharon D. Beard, NIEHS WETP and Mary Williams, Dillard University, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ)
|
10:50-11:50 a.m. | On-Site Lessons Learned This panel explored the issues and challenges encountered by cleanup workers and awardees at disaster sites, and at the training sites. Panel members shared stories of what they encountered on the "local" level. Moderators: Jim Remington, NIEHS WETP and David Coffey, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
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11:50 a.m.-12:15 p.m. | Evaluation Plan for the Oil Spill Response Training Evaluation Plan for the Gulf Oil Spill Response Training: A Multiple Stakeholder Approach (324KB) Sue Ann Sarpy, Sarpy and Associates, LLC |
1:30-2:00 p.m. | The Importance of Protecting Worker and Community Health Following a Disaster Elizabeth (Lizzie) Grossman, Author |
2:00-3:15 p.m. | Lessons Learned on Worker Training This panel examined the safety and health training courses provided to cleanup workers during the response of the oil spill. Discussion included topics on course content, instructors, classroom settings, language/literacy issues, etc. Moderator: Ted Outwater, NIEHS WETP
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3:30-4:00 p.m. | Using the Contracting Mechanism to Ensure Workers Get Training. Donald Elisburg, NIEHS National Clearinghouse |
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Time | Topic |
---|---|
8:30-8:55 a.m. | Keynote Linda Birnbaum, Director, NIEHS |
8:55-9:50 a.m. | Medical Monitoring and Surveillance - Implementing Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance (ERHMS) This panel provided an overview and status of the ERHMS document, demonstrated the usefulness of collecting rosters and training records during the response and discussed some of the challenges to implementing ERHMS. Moderator: Aubrey Miller, NIEHS
|
9:50-10:00 a.m. | Charge to Breakout Sessions |
10:15-11:45 a.m. | Concurrent Breakout Sessions
|
11:50 a.m.- 12:10 p.m. | Report Back from Breakout Sessions |
12:10-12:30 p.m. | Wrap Up and Adjourn |
Suggested Readings from the Workshop
- Workshop Overview (313KB)
- Center for Progressive Reform, From Ship to Shore: Reforming the National Contingency Plan to Improve Protections for Oil Spill Cleanup Workers
- Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Self-Reported Health and Economic Impact Survey: An Analysis of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster in Seven Coastal Louisiana Communities
- OSHA, Training Marine Oil Spill Response Workers under OSHA's Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard
- President's National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Final Report
- Sarpy and Associates, Gulf Oil Spill Evaluation (426KB)
- Zhang, Jing, Honors Thesis on Training in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (590KB)
- Adding and editing courses in the WETP Curricula Catalog (51KB)
- Introduction to the WETP Curricula Catalog (1MB)
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