Project SEAMIST (South East Area Maritime Industry Safety Training)

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Program Abstract The extensive water networks of the United States maritime industry carry over 65 percent of the products transported in and around the country. Every United States region has supply lines to navigable waterways and/or coastal or inland ports that are used to transport these goods. In an industry that handles such a wide variety and abundance of material within and out of ports, incidental exposures are impossible to prevent, although they can be reduced through recognition of the hazardous nature of certain materials and training to minimize incidental exposure as well as accidents and mishandling. It is important that all workers at all levels in the maritime industry receive proper training on how to recognize and handle hazardous materials, along with risk reduction methods. Training for workers within and ancillary to the maritime industry that handle hazardous materials as well as training related to worker safety and health has been limited. Over nearly a decade, Project South East Area Maritime Industry Safety Training (SEAMIST), a Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP) funded by a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has addressed this unmet need. Specifically, Project SEAMIST provides health and safety training for personnel whose jobs may bring them in contact with hazardous materials in ports. To date, the program has been very successful, training approximately 7,000 participants, logging close to 70,000 contact hours and targeting several occupational areas in the maritime industry within Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, and California. Project SEAMIST continues to aim to resolve the lack of economical and specialized training courses available to the maritime industry workers, especially as there has been numerous hazardous material incidents that have occurred within the maritime industry. At the Port of Miami in Florida, a steel container leaked ammonia that closed a section of the cargo area. At the Port of Long Beach in California, a container leaked propyl acetate and injured twelve people. These incidents demonstrate a continued occurrence of hazardous material events and thus the need for expanded and ongoing training for the health and safety of the maritime workers involved. In carrying Project SEAMIS forward, we aim to provide safety and hazardous preparedness training to over 9,000 maritime workers in both English and Spanish, and continue to revise, optimize and enhance our training curricula and evaluation protocols to reduce and possibly eliminate incidences of injuries and deaths among maritime workers.