Midwest Consortium for Hazardous Waste Worker Training

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Midwest Consortium for Hazardous Waste Worker Training (MWC) provides model training programs to workers and residents who may be exposed to hazardous substances. This programming is delivered by 13 training centers in 9 states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Eight of the centers are equipment-based centers that focus most strongly on HAZWOPER and related training for workers at designated hazardous waste sites; treatment, storage, and disposal facilities; and in a broad range of emergency response roles. The five remaining centers are community-based centers that focus on helping workers and residents, particularly those from underserved populations, to recognize and react to hazardous materials in their communities. Of the 9 MWC states, 5 (Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee) were impacted severely enough by weather-related events during 2022 that disasters were declared according to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Five of the MWC training centers in the affected states are able to provide training with proposed supplemental funding: the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota, the University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota, the University of Tennessee, and YouthBuild Louisville in Kentucky. The MWC has developed a variety of curricula to support disaster preparedness, response, and recovery training. Training delivery with these curricula will lead to emergency responders, government workers, community members, and others being better prepared for future storms and other disasters. From August 1, 2023 to May 31, 2025, the MWC proposes to deliver 81 programs to 1,286 participants for a total of 6,020 contact hours in the 5 states in which disasters were declared in 2022. Programs will be evaluated using the MWC's standard procedures. Each program delivered will be recorded in the NIEHS Worker Training Program Data Management System. Progress on training supported by this supplemental funding will be detailed in the MWC's annual interim and final reports. Participants from economically vulnerable populations and populations underrepresented in hazardous materials training will be key audiences for the proposed training. The training will provide substantial service to workers and community members in the Midwest who were affected by disasters in 2022.