Is there a general HazMat Certification course or do you have to be certified in specific areas? Is it all through OSHA? I've done a few searches but figured I'd check here to see if any of your companies are certified.
Any info is appreciated.
It is a basic 40 hour HazMat certification. HAZWOPER is the abbreviation if I'm not mistaken. We have 4 crew members and one manager (not me) certified. They do have to do re-training every year.
Our crews are 40 hour certified along with the 8 hour annual refresher. You could probably find a company that does the certifications in your area. It can get pricey and then you have to pay the employee his wages plus the loss of his time on the job. we figured with all that above it cost over $3500 a man. Me personally, been certified since 1991. Spent about a year and a half on and off level C (respirator) on a Dioxin site Essex County, NJ. around 10 years ago. Years ago you used to be able to get a premium for the work, not anymore it's part of doing business.
The course I took (HAZWOPER) was a FULL 40 hours. More if you have to be fitted for a respirator. There are several trainers available, and I believe you may be able to take it online. If they are like the OSHA courses I have taken you cannot take them in less than the time allotted.
Andy
I got 40 hr HAZWOPER through a local community college. It took place at a firehouse and we actually put on all the gear and simulated a spill. I've known others who have taken the 40 HR and only saw classroom time.
For my annual 8hr refresher, I go here...
http://www.safetyunlimited.com/
You might be able to get through the 8 hrs in about 5 1/2. I figure that 8 hrs is going on the timesheet anyway, just in case of an audit.
My favorite HAZMAT story is about the work I've done with two firms at Brookhaven National Lab, out in Upton, Long Island.
Back in the early 1990's, we did several surveys of areas where radioactive waste had been stored, which included old desks, lab equipment and even a vehicle, that had been contaminated. After all the training and background checks, each crew member and supervisor (me) was given a badge and a "life number". This made it possible for the Lab to keep track of how much radiation anyone was exposed to, so that they could call a halt to the surveys if exposure caused greater than minimal levels of radiation. Of course, no one did, since the materials were supposedly low-level risks, although the field crew was advised not to touch any of the articles they were locating.
Fast forward to 2010, where our (different) firm has to perform layout work on the new NSLS (National Synchrotron Light Source, which uses x-rays, ultraviolet light, and infrared light in various experiments). We go through the whole megilla again (even though the NSLS facility is under construction and non-operational) and they assign me (the only repeater from the 1990's) a new "life number".
I advised them that I already had a life number, so they could just continue the readings using that file.
Of course, they couldn't find the records.:'(
They probably figured that by this time, you were already dead.
🙂
Great Info. Thanks everyone!