The Community College Consortium for Health and Safety Training (CCCHST)

When Congress reauthorized the Superfund program in 1986 and directed OSHA to develop worker protection regulations (29 CFR 1910.120) for handling hazardous waste, it also authorized a division of the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), to fund model worker training programs. Congress intended these programs to lead the way in developing a highly trained workforce capable of safely handling the cleanup of hazardous waste sites and other incidents in which hazardous materials are involved.

The Community College Consortium for Health and Safety Training (CCCHST) is one of 20 model worker training programs recognized by NIEHS. The consortium sponsored by the Hazardous Materials Training and Research Institute (HMTRI) is the only community college based NIEHS program. CCCHST and HMTRI now provide this model program to the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE) and its member colleges.

CCCHST train-the-trainer and worker training programs addressing OSHA, EPA, DOT and DOE regulations move beyond the pencil and paper classroom approach to actual hands-on field exercises using state-of-the-art equipment. Programs are designed to have students practice and then demonstrate their ability to perform, for example, in fully encapsulated personal protective suits or in self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Students also learn through the use of simulations of hazardous materials incidents by observing demonstrations of chemical reactions.

CCCHST/HMTRI's "Great Environmental Safety Trainers Institute" emphasizes how to conduct safe, memorable, hands-on training as part of the CCCHST/HMTRI model curriculum. The Institute is not a teacher education program; it is assumed trainers and educators selected by their colleges to attend the program have the necessary instructional skills. The Great Environmental Safety Trainers Institute targets technical skills, hands-on training, safety standards, and the design of training grounds and scenarios related to environmental health and safety education and training.

The activities included in the trainer-the-trainer program target waste site worker curriculum and industrial spill response curriculum. Other topics such as DOT 181 training, confined space safety training, and instrumentation and monitoring are included.

Training skills include:

Hazard recognition and control
Air, soil and water sampling and monitoring
Confined space entry
Safe work practices
Proper decontamination procedures
Spill containment and other emergencies
Engineering controls and their use
Emergency response
Selection, care and use of respirators and other personal protective equipment

Community College Consortium for Heath and Safety Trainers

Listed by State

Resources and Data for Trainers

The National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety & Health Training

Standard Regulatory Knowledge for Trainers

HMTRI Classroom Standards

HMTRI Training Standards

HMTRI Equipment List

HMTRI Video List

Discussion Forum

US Environmental Laws

US EPA Information Numbers

Call us at 1-800-GO-HMTRI or 319-398-5893

Fax us at 319-398-5894

or E-Mail hmtri@kirkwood.cc.ia.us

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