Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP)

危险废物工人培训计划（HWWTP）

• 批准号: 8307336
• 负责人: john Dennis devlin
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: UTILITY WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-08-01 至 2015-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8307336
• 关键词: Accidents; Acute; Age; Aging; Air Pollution; Americas; Area; Arsenic; Asbestos; Attention; Breathing; Cadmium; Categories; Chemicals; Chronic; Classification; Coal; Collection; Communities; Deposition; Disasters; Disease; Dust; Educational Curriculum; Electricity; Emergency Situation; Emergency medical service; Employee; Ensure; Environmental sludge; Equipment; Event; Explosion; Exposure to; Financial compensation; Fossil Fuels; Funding; Future; Gases; Generations; Grant; Hazardous Chemicals; Hazardous Substances; Hazardous Waste; Hazardous Waste Sites; Health; Heavy Metals; Home environment; Human; Human Resources; Hurricane; Industrial Waste; Industry; Ingestion; Injury; Institutes; Interruption; Island; Joints; Lead; Locales; Location; Maintenance; Mechanics; Medical Waste; Memory; Mercury; Metals; Names; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Natural Disasters; Nature; New York; Nonprofit Organizations; Nuclear; Oils; Plants; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; Population; Positioning Attribute; Potassium Permanganate; Power Plants; Process; Radiation; Recovery; Refuse Disposal; Reporter; Reporting; Research Infrastructure; Resources; Retirement; Risk; Rivers; Role; Safety; Secure; Services; Sewage; Shapes; Site; Soil; Source; Steam; Structure; Sulfuric Acids; System; Telephone; Television; Tennessee; Time; Tornadoes; Toxin; Training; Training Programs; Trust; U-Series Cooperative Agreements; United States; United States Virgin Islands; Water; Water Pollution; Water Purification; Weather; Work; Workplace; aged; aquatic organism; chlorine gas; chromium hexavalent ion; cost; drinking water; emergency service responder; experience; falls; fly ash; hazard; injured; killings; man; manufacturing process; meetings; member; nuclear power; occupational hazard; operation; outreach; pollutant; prevent; prospective; purge; repaired; response; retinal rods; stem; transmission process; wasting; water treatment

The utility industry forms the core of our energy infrastructure. The public depends on its services and rightly takes for granted that the electricity is always flowing. But with this service comes a number of public and occupational hazards. Workers suffer illnesses and injuries from exposure to spills or leaks of radiation, chlorine gas, PCB-contaminated oil, sulfuric acid, or potassium permanganate. Other hazards include: electrocution, crushing from cave-ins during excavations, asbestos, mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals to name a few. We see UWUA members at work in everyday lives, but their work hazards go unnoticed. Similarly, the public hazards from the industry such as air and water pollution and catastrophic releases of toxins often are seen as everyday circumstances until there is a dramatic accident that draws our attention to the utility industry, such as Three Mile Island. More often than not, a worker training is the first and only line of defense to either prevent or stem hazards in the workplace or the public. Sometimes these invisible hazards break into full view as happened during the Kingston, Tennessee coal ash spill. The spill deposited about 5.4 million cubic yards of fly ash sludge into the Emory River and its environs destroying or damaging 26 homes with an expected cleanup cost $1 Billion (2). There are less spectacular hazards of coal-fired electrical plants' combustion by-products that are reported in the EPA's Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category: Final Detailed Report: The total amount of toxic pollutants currently being released in wastewater discharges from coal-fired power plants is estimated to be significant and raises concerns regarding the long-term impacts to aquatic organisms, wildlife, and human health that are exposed to these pollutants."(3) Even though the EPA has yet to classify coal ash as hazardous waste, they are applying their own hazardous waste standard to it. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensations and Liability Act (CERCLA) is now used as the guiding standard for coal incident clean-ups. Additionally, the EPA has determined that at least 44 other holding ponds across the United States pose a "High Hazard" to nearby communities (4). Because coal fly ash sludge stored in holding ponds does not easily become airborne, it doesn't pose a severe health risk to workers. However, electrical generation workers can be exposed to dry coal ash that may become airborne in electrical generation facilities. Coal combustion by-products escape boilers that lack scrubbers. In the case of positive flow boilers, coal ash dust escapes through holes in the boiler and covers everything around the boiler. This dry coal ash dust often contains inorganic arsenic, hexavalent chromium, mercury, and lead. When dry, this ash dust can contaminate workers through inhalation or ingestion, causing chronic health problems to exposed workers. Utility workers are exposed to hazardous substances through a wide variety of venues. Like industrial workers they may be exposed to a broad array of hazardous chemicals that are used onsite during the manufacturing process (making electricity, purifying drinking water). Like construction workers, they may be exposed to contaminated soil during excavation/trenching operations to install, maintain or repair pipes or lines. Like service workers they must go to industrial settings or other potentially hazardous sites to install, maintain or repair the equipment that distributes the product. Finally, like Emergency Response workers they are first responders to natural, man-made or accidental disasters to repair and to reestablish utility service. Rationale for the training: Utility workers can be exposed to hazardous waste onsite at the generation plant; offsite in the transmission, distribution or collection system, servicing industrial and hazardous waste sites; or responding to a utility loss of service emergency. Onsite, large storage tanks of hazardous chemicals may leak and expose workers to toxins. In addition, pipes or valves that transport chemicals to treat water at electrical generation or water purification may leak and expose workers to hazardous chemicals, including incompatibles, during maintenance and/or repair. Hazardous waste is stored at many generation plants, including spent nuclear fuel rods or slurry ponds containing chemical residue from scrubber purge, boiler blow down, metal cleaning wastewater, and miscellaneous cooling water, as well as coal combustion by-products. Offsite, workers are exposed to unknown contaminants during maintenance or repair of underground pipes or lines. They can be exposed from toxins in the soil during excavation or, in the case of sewer workers, exposed to toxic industrial waste or medical waste in the line. Finally, utility workers are first responders to emergencies. They respond to emergencies both at their home location, as well as throughout the Nation at pre-agreed geographical regions through Mutual Aid Pacts (MPAs) which send utility workers to repair all manner of utility service outages in the most disagreeable and dangerous conditions. Depending on the emergency, whether natural or man-made, utility service interruptions in highly dangerous chemical, petrochemical, refining, or other industrial sites, as well as hazardous waste cleanup sites, require utility workers, in their role as first responders, to confront a variety of hazards while working to restore utility service. The workforce of the utility industry is also in flux, which brings a different set of hazards. The industry is experiencing unprecedented changes due to former deregulation and restructuring. In addition to the reduction of workforce numbers over the years when new workers were not added to the workforce, we are now experiencing a crisis of an aging workforce. "The average age of an energy utility employee is steadily rising; since 1995 the number of industry workers aged 55 and older has increased 225%." (5) One major consequence of this has been the loss of experienced workers primarily through retirement and attrition, and with them, the loss of institutional memory of workplace health and safety. It is predicted that this loss will continue and accelerate, with an estimated 50% of the workforce retiring in the next 4 to 8 years (6). The remaining managers and workers struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing structure, while continuing to provide essential services such as power-grid infrastructure maintenance, electrical power distribution, sewage recovery and treatment, gas distribution, and water purification and distribution. Training is now and will increasingly be essential to provide a safe and healthy workplace. That is why the UWUA has established the Power4America to partner with management to begin the process of ensuring the necessary training resources for these crucial years. Additionally we are reaching out to the community in anticipation of this need and will be conducting outreach health and safety training for prospective workers. This training will help prepare these community members to work safely in these facilities once they are employed. We will focus our recruitment efforts on underserved members of the community surrounding our represented NRC facilities in the first year of the grant. If funded we will extend this training to other facilities nationwide in future grant years'. Members ofthe UWUA occupy a wide variety of positions that compose the utility industry, including electricians, mechanics, steam operators, underground maintenance workers, overhead line workers, nuclear power operators (and other nuclear classifications), transformer personnel, painters, and office personnel. UWUA members need training because their work environment exposes them to accidents and injuries due to exposure to hazardous substances. By the nature of the work, utility workers must move throughout their service areas, including waste disposal or industrial sites to maintain and repair their utility lines. Water, sewage, and electrical transmission and distribution workers must be prepared to respond to emergencies either at their own utility or through MPAs to an emergency in another locale caused by a natural disaster, terrorist event, or accidental catastrophe. Whether onsite, offsite or in an emergency response situation, acute or chronic injury and disease associated with the clean-up of a hazardous substance release or an accidental release of radiation from spent fuel rods or toxic airborne coal ash waste, may chronically impair their health and that ofthe surrounding communities. The Need: It is no secret that our infrastructure is in sorry shape. It is estimated that hundreds of billions of dollars are needed to rebuild our power lines, our water mains, and our gas pipelines. In the meantime, utility workers engage in reactive maintenance: they must deal with thousands of water main breaks, fallen powerlines and gas-line repairs, especially in the winter months. To deal with the massive weather emergencies like hurricanes, tornadoes, and winter storms, utilities often borrow crews from each other in a mutual aid system. It is very difficult and chaotic process but, for the most part, it has kept our electricity, water, and gas available to the public and the industry. It is during these emergency responses that utility workers come in contact with hazardous situations, depending upon the emergency they are responding to. New York Times reporter James Barron provided a small glimpse ofthe magnitude ofthe problem faced by utility workers when he was describing an underground steam-pipe explosion caused by a nearby water main break. Two utility workers and a pedestrian were killed in this explosion and 24 others were injured. "It's a jungle down there. Beneath the 23 square miles of Manhattan are 11 million miles of telephone wires, 19,000 miles of electrical cable, 6,000 miles of water mains, 4,000 miles of gas lines, 100 miles of cable television wires and 105 miles of steam pipes." (7)

公用事业行业构成了我们能源基础设施的核心。公众依赖其服务，并理所当然地认为电力始终在流动。但这项服务也带来了一些公共和职业危害。工人因接触辐射、氯气、多氯联苯污染的油、硫酸或高锰酸钾的溢出或泄漏而遭受疾病和伤害。其他危险包括： 触电、挖掘过程中的塌陷、石棉、汞、砷、铅、镉和其他重金属等等。我们在日常生活中看到 UWUA 成员在工作，但他们的工作危险却被忽视。同样，工业造成的公共危害，如空气和水污染以及灾难性的毒素释放，通常被视为日常情况，直到发生一场戏剧性的事故，吸引我们的注意。 关注公用事业行业，例如三哩岛。通常，工人培训是预防或阻止工作场所或公众危险的第一道也是唯一的防线。 有时，这些看不见的危险会突然出现在人们的视野中，就像田纳西州金斯敦煤灰泄漏事件中发生的那样。此次泄漏事故将约 540 万立方码的飞灰污泥沉积到埃默里河及其周边地区，摧毁或损坏了 26 栋房屋，预计清理费用为 10 亿美元 (2)。美国环保署蒸汽电力报告中燃煤发电厂燃烧副产品的危害并不那么严重 发电点源类别： 最终详细报告： 据估计，目前燃煤电厂废水排放中释放的有毒污染物总量相当大，这引起了人们对暴露于这些污染物的水生生物、野生动物和人类健康的长期影响的担忧。”(3) 尽管美国环保局尚未将煤灰分类为危险废物，但他们正在对其应用自己的危险废物标准。《综合环境响应、补偿和责任法案》 (CERCLA) 现在被用作煤炭事故清理的指导标准。此外，美国环保局 (EPA) 确定美国各地至少有 44 个其他蓄水池对附近社区构成“高度危险”(4)。 由于储存池中储存的粉煤灰污泥不易传播到空气中，因此不会对工人造成严重的健康风险。然而，发电工人可能会接触到发电设施中可能通过空气传播的干煤灰。煤炭燃烧副产品会从缺乏洗涤器的锅炉中逸出。在正流锅炉的情况下，煤灰粉尘通过锅炉和盖子上的孔逸出 锅炉周围的一切。这种干燥的煤灰粉尘通常含有无机砷、六价铬、汞和铅。当干燥时，这些灰尘会通过吸入或摄入污染工人，给接触的工人造成慢性健康问题。 公用事业工人通过各种场所接触有害物质。与产业工人一样，他们可能会接触到制造过程（发电、净化饮用水）现场使用的各种危险化学品。与建筑工人一样，他们在安装、维护或修理管道或线路的挖掘/挖沟作业期间可能会接触受污染的土壤。喜欢 服务人员必须前往工业场所或其他潜在危险场所安装、维护或修理分发产品的设备。最后，与应急响应人员一样，他们是自然、人为或意外灾害的第一响应者，负责修复和重建公用事业服务。 培训理由：公用事业工人可能会在发电厂现场接触危险废物；异地传输、分配或收集系统，为工业和危险废物场提供服务；或响应公用事业中断服务紧急情况。现场，危险化学品的大型储罐可能会泄漏，使工人接触到毒素。此外，输送化学品以处理水的管道或阀门 在维护和/或维修期间，发电或水净化可能会泄漏并使工人接触危险化学品，包括不相容的化学品。许多发电厂都储存着危险废物，包括废核燃料棒或泥浆池，其中含有洗涤器净化、锅炉排污、金属清洗废水和各种冷却水以及煤炭燃烧副产品产生的化学残留物。 在场外，工人在地下管道或线路的维护或修理过程中会接触到未知的污染物。他们在挖掘过程中可能会接触到土壤中的毒素，或者对于下水道工人来说，他们可能会接触到管道中的有毒工业废物或医疗废物。最后，公用事业工作人员是紧急情况的第一响应者。他们在自己的家乡以及全国各地应对紧急情况 通过互助协定（MPA）预先商定的地理区域，派遣公用事业工人在最不愉快和危险的条件下修复各种公用事业服务中断。根据自然或人为的紧急情况，高度危险的化学品、石化、炼油或其他工业场所以及危险废物清理场所的公用事业服务中断，需要公用事业工作人员 他们作为第一响应者的角色，在努力恢复公用事业服务的同时应对各种危险。 公用事业行业的劳动力也在不断变化，这带来了一系列不同的危险。由于之前的放松管制和重组，该行业正在经历前所未有的变化。除了多年来劳动力数量减少、没有新增劳动力之外，我们现在还面临着劳动力老龄化的危机。 “能源公用事业员工的平均年龄正在稳步上升； 自 1995 年以来，55 岁及以上的行业工人数量增加了 225%。”(5) 这样做的一个主要后果是，经验丰富的工人主要通过退休和自然减员而流失，随之而来的是工作场所健康和安全的机构记忆的丧失。预计这种损失将持续并加速，估计有 50% 的劳动力将在未来 4 至 8 年内退休 (6)。剩下的管理人员和工人很难适应 适应快速变化的结构，同时继续提供电网基础设施维护、配电、污水回收和处理、燃气分配以及水净化和分配等基本服务。 培训对于提供安全健康的工作场所现在和将来都越来越重要。这就是为什么 UWUA 建立了 Power4America 来与管理层合作，开始确保这些关键年份所需的培训资源。此外，我们正在接触社区以应对这一需求，并将为未来的工人进行外展健康和安全培训。 该培训将帮助这些社区成员做好准备，以便在受雇后能够在这些设施中安全工作。在拨款的第一年，我们将把招募工作的重点放在我们所代表的 NRC 设施周围社区中服务不足的成员上。如果获得资助，我们将在未来的拨款年度将这种培训扩展到全国其他机构。 UWUA 的成员在公用事业行业中担任各种职位，包括电工、机械师、蒸汽操作员、地下维护工人、架空线路工人、核电操作员（和其他核分类）、变压器人员、油漆工和办公室人员。 UWUA 成员需要培训，因为他们的工作环境会使他们因接触有害物质而遭受事故和伤害。根据工作性质，公用事业工人必须在其服务区域内移动，包括废物处理或工业场地，以维护和修理其公用事业线路。水、污水和电力传输和分配工作人员必须做好准备，以应对自己的公用事业公司或通过海洋保护区应对自然灾害在另一个地区引起的紧急情况， 恐怖事件或意外灾难。无论是在现场、场外还是在紧急响应情况下，与清理有害物质释放或废燃料棒或空气中有毒煤灰废物的辐射意外释放相关的急性或慢性伤害和疾病可能会长期损害他们和周围社区的健康。 需求：众所周知，我们的基础设施状况不佳。据估计，重建我们的电力线、水管和天然气管道需要数千亿美元。与此同时，公用事业工人进行被动维护：他们必须处理数以千计的水管破裂、电线倒塌和燃气管道维修，尤其是在冬季。应对特大气象突发事件 飓风、龙卷风和冬季风暴时，公用事业公司经常通过互助系统相互借用人员。 这是一个非常困难和混乱的过程，但在很大程度上，它使我们的电力、水和天然气向公众和行业开放。在这些紧急响应过程中，公用事业工作人员会接触到危险情况，具体取决于他们响应的紧急情况。 《纽约时报》记者詹姆斯·巴伦（James Barron）对公用事业工人在他任职期间所面临的问题的严重性有一个小小的了解。 描述由附近总水管破裂引起的地下蒸汽管爆炸。两名公用事业工人和一名行人在这次爆炸中丧生，另有 24 人受伤。 “那里是一片丛林。曼哈顿 23 平方英里的地下有 1100 万英里的电话线、19,000 英里的电缆、 6,000 英里的水管、4,000 英里的燃气管道、100 英里的有线电视线和 105 英里的蒸汽管道。”(7)