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Your Environment. Your Health.

Deepwater Horizon Lessons Learned Workshop

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

WETP Spring 2011 Awardee Meeting and Workshop

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

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)
  • Dan Suhr, inXsol LLC
  • Terrell Fulbright, JXT Applications, Inc.
  • Kelly Clark, WisdomTools LLC, an Information In Place Company
  • Chris Held, Metamedia Training International, Inc.
  • Jonathan Kaye, Equipment Simulations LLC
  • Cesar Bandera, Cell Podium, LLC
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
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
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

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