By Vance Bennett
If you are a member of a hazmat team, you must have 8 hours of refresher training each year.
Everyone knows that. However, like a lot of stuff that everyone knows, it’s not true.
That’s what is called conventional wisdom or received wisdom. The dictionary definition of conventional wisdom is: the generally accepted belief, opinion, judgment, or prediction about a particular matter. However, the problem is that this knowledge isn’t necessarily rooted in verifiable evidence. Just because these ideas are widely accepted, doesn’t mean that they are accurate or true.
One thing that is true regarding hazmat refresher training is that it’s required by an OSHA regulation. The relevant federal regulation is 29 CFR 1910.120, Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (commonly referred to as HAZWOPER). This regulation addresses clean up of hazardous waste sites, operations at treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDF) and emergency response.
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HAZWOPER lays out requirements for such things as equipment, activities to conduct, medical surveillance and training. The section that applies to hazmat emergency response is near the end of the regulation.
The requirements for refresher training are at the very end of the regulation. This explains why so many people don’t understand the requirements for refresher training — they don’t read the whole regulation.
The section that applies is 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(8) Refresher Training. It consists of a grand total of two sentences. They are:
1. Those employees who are trained in accordance with subsection (q)(6) of this section shall receive annual refresher training of sufficient content and duration to maintain their competencies, or shall demonstrate competency in those areas at least yearly.
2. A statement shall be made of the training or competency; and if a statement of competency is made, the employer shall keep a record of the methodology used to demonstrate competency.
That’s it. No minimum hours. No required content. No details.
This regulation doesn’t specify any minimum duration for this training. It doesn’t have any requirements for course content. It doesn’t even require a refresher class. It requires refresher training.
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This may seem like splitting hairs but it’s an important distinction. Your refresher training can consist of an annual session, weekly sessions, monthly sessions or sporadic sessions. It doesn’t matter as long as you receive refresher training that is sufficient to maintain your competency.
Your certification as a hazmat technician doesn’t expire if you do not complete refresher training. In fact, it doesn’t expire at all. If anyone talks to you about maintaining current certification they simply don’t know what they’re talking about. The exception, of course, is if you operate in a state that set more stringent standards, then those would apply.
There are other federal OSHA requirements that address refresher training for hazmat responders. One is an OSHA directive titled CPL 02-02-073, Inspection Procedures for 29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65, Paragraph (q): Emergency Response to Hazardous Substance Releases. This is OSHA’s guidance to its compliance personnel about how to enforce the provision of HAZWOPER that applies to emergency response.
What does it do?
“It updates policies and provides clarification to ensure uniform enforcement of paragraph (q) of the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER), 29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65, which covers emergency response operations for releases of or substantial threats of releases of hazardous substances without regard to the location of the hazard.”
CPL 02-02-073 provides the following guidance about Hazmat emergency response refresher training:
“Provisions for employee training must be incorporated into the ERP (Emergency Response Plan). This might include a general outline of the training to be completed for each of the various levels of emergency responders addressed in the ERP, or a reference to the location of the training manual. The plan should also address a schedule for required annual refresher training.”
Your agency must have an official policy on how it will conduct refresher training. It should specify the schedule for refresher training, but this document says nothing about how often the training should take place.
“Time spent by emergency response employees reviewing incidents can be credited toward their refresher training requirements under 1910.120(q)(8).”
Again, you don’t need a refresher class, you need refresher training. The required training need not be a formal training session. This policy gives you a lot of flexibility in how to meet the requirements.
“Compliance Safety and Health Officers must evaluate the adequacy of emergency responder training … by interviewing the employer, employee representatives, and employees who may be involved in an emergency involving hazardous substances in order to determine their ability to perform their designated response roles and responsibilities.”
What happens if OSHA shows up? They will review your records and talk to responders to make sure they can actually do their job.
“OSHA’s intent is that employees should complete their refresher training within twelve months of their initial training, although sometimes courses may be missed due to unavoidable circumstances. In such an event, employees should take the next available refresher training course. However, there should be a record in the employee’s file indicating why the training has been delayed and when the training will be completed. If the employee has gone without refresher training for more than twelve months, the employer must evaluate whether the initial comprehensive training needs to be repeated.”
OSHA recognizes that things happen. People will be out with injuries, on vacation, on a response out of jurisdiction, etc. If some of your people miss the official refresher training it’s no big deal. Just make sure you document what happened.
“Refresher training may be given in segments throughout the year so long as the required training has been completed by the employee’s anniversary date. Time spent by emergency response employees reviewing incidents can also be credited toward their refresher training requirements.”
Once again, they clearly state that you have flexibility in when and how often you do the required refresher training.
“The employer must have a ‘statement of training’ or ‘statement of competency’ for annual refresher training or competency for all employees trained in emergency response.”
The job’s not done until the paperwork is done.
Federal OSHA published an interpretation letter after they issued CPL 02-02-073. It says:
“It is important to note that training required under 1910.120(q) is dependent upon the anticipated duties and functions of the responder. Training and competencies must be consistent with each employee’s anticipated role. For example, while the course topics you outlined could be suitable for operations level or HAZMAT technician refresher training, they may not provide proper refresher training for personnel assigned as incident commanders, i.e., individuals who assume control of the incident scene.”
Refresher training can’t be generic. It has to focus on what the employee actually does.
About the Author
Vance Bennett is retired from California Specialized Training Institute, the training branch of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. During his 30 years at CSTI he was an Emergency Management coordinator and instructor in the Hazardous Materials Section. He was the course manager for several CSTI courses including Hazmat Incident Commander, First Responder Operations and CSTI Instructor Certification. As the CSTI representative to the FIRESCOPE Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, he helped develop hazmat team typing and equipment standards for California hazmat teams. Vance was also a regular presenter at the Hazmat Continuing Challenge Workshop.
Prior to coming to work for CSTI, he was on active duty in the U. S. Coast Guard specializing in marine safety and pollution response. During that time he was involved in responses to hazmat incidents and oil spills including the EXXON Valdez and American Trader spills. He served in a variety of USCG units including the Pacific Strike Team before retiring in 2009.
