This 24 hour refresher course covers the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard. This standard outlines how the United States defines materials and waste as hazardous and explains the regulations set forth to ensure worker and environmental safety. It also provides the information needed to safely run a functioning site that contains hazardous materials, including the steps to prevent and control emergency situations related to hazardous materials.
What are the governing regulations? Because of the seriousness of the safety and health hazards related to hazardous waste operations and emergency response, OSHA issued the HAZWOPER standards 29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65.
The HAZWOPER standard for the construction industry, 29 CFR 1926.65, is identical to 29 CFR 1910.120 for general industry.
Who must take this training? No employee may perform hazardous waste operations unless they have been trained to the level required by their job function and responsibility. According to 29 CFR 1910.120(e)(3)(i):
General site workers (such as equipment operators, general laborers and supervisory personnel) engaged in hazardous substance removal or other activities which expose or potentially expose workers to hazardous substances and health hazards.
Refresher training applies to all employees, managers, and supervisors.
Case Study: Employee Is Burned While Sampling Waste Drums
Romic Environmental Technologies is located in East Palo Alto, California. In 2007, an employee was working as a sampler and opening sealed 55-gallon drums. His task was to verify if the waste in the drums was indeed the waste indicated on the drum manifests. The employee lined up all 12 drums in the Drum Sampling Area (next to the Drum Storage Area) and placed sampling jars on top of each drum. He equipped himself with a full facepiece respirator, gloves, and a rubber apron over his long-sleeved uniform.
Using a pneumatic impact wrench, he began opening the drums. There were no issues with the first four or five drums, but when the pneumatic impact wrench contacted the next drum (which showed no signs of bulging or deformities), it immediately burst into flames. The employee was hit in the stomach by the exploding drum and then engulfed in flames. His clothes caught fire, and he began running. The Production Manager rolled the employee on the ground to extinguish the flames. A second employee sprayed the injured employee with a fire extinguisher. The employee was treated at the hospital. He received first and second-degree burns on his right ear.
OSHA determined that the accident was probably caused by the sparks from the pneumatic impact wrench (commonly known as an air gun).
It will take a MINIMUM of 24 hours to complete this online course. The student may log on and off as needed. A bookmark will be set so when they log back in they will return to where they left off.
We have no restrictions on how long a person takes to complete a course.
Likewise, if you are purchasing for others, we have no time limit on assigning courses. So you can purchase a larger quantity then you currently need and take advantage of volume discounts.
Every 12 months, eight hours of refresher training is required in order to maintain HAZWOPER certification and to work on sites requiring HAZWOPER certification. This eight-hour refresher training applies to both 24-hour and 40-hour certifications.
Upon successful completion each student will have immediate access to a printable certificate and wallet card for proof of your 24 hour HAZWOPER online training.
