Environmental Factor – May 2019: Navajo rail workers learn protection skills

An instructor on the IBT 2019 CER course explained to the participant the appropriate use of personal protective equipment. (Photo courtesy of Charmaine Woolard)

Railroad workers in communities near the Navajo Nation received critical safety training April 10-14 in Winslow, Arizona, thanks to NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) grantee, the International Brotherhood (IBT) ).

Beneficiaries planned this third 40-hour Chemical Emergency Response (CER) training program after receiving positive feedback from 2017 and 2018 trainees. The 2019 course served railroad workers from Navajo Nation, New Mexico, Nevada and California.

Joseph “Chip Hughes,” WTP Director. “Having and building this relationship of trust is key to the success of the program.”

Handling the risks of transporting hazardous materials

The course helps workers enhance their awareness and knowledge of the hazardous materials they may encounter at work, and the skills to protect their health. Transport workers face occupational hazards such as accidental release of hazardous materials, exposure to hazardous waste during clean-up projects, and hazardous waste and materials transported via trucks, railcars and intermodal shipping containers.

Participants in the IBT 2019 CER course were trained in the use of personal protective equipment during the training scenario. (Photo courtesy of Charmaine Woolard)

“Transportation personnel are often the first to be on the scene if there is a derailment or a hazardous material spill from a truck or train,” Hughes noted. “Advanced training helps them prepare for these scenarios.”

For rural and remote tribal states across the United States, these risks are heightened by a lack of proximity to resources and extensive health and safety training. Trainees may learn safety information for the first time, despite having been employed for years. “I worked with a lot of chemicals,” said one of the attendees, “and I would not have exposed myself to the risks I did, had I received proper worker training.”

The CER course included hands-on training and classroom activities. (Photo courtesy of Charmaine Woolard)

Although CER training is not required by railroad employers, it is beneficial for employees. “We want them to learn how to be safe at work, and to increase their awareness of hazardous materials being carried on rail in the event of a derailment,” said Charmaine Woolard, assistant director of the IBT program.

Making a difference in the home and workplace

Some of the equipment used in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Confined Space category display. (Photo courtesy of Chad Gillhood)

As a result of this course, many interns are empowered to reach out to their employer and bring about change in their workplace. “[Union] Workers are not intimidated to go to their employer and ask for personal protective equipment [PPE]Willard said.

Attendees can use the knowledge they have learned about workplace settings to keep their homes and families safe, too. “I now realize the importance of having a backup plan at work and at home for potentially dangerous situations,” said one participant. “I will talk to my family about a meeting place and an evacuation plan, if we need it.”

(Gabrielle Minton is a graduate fellow at MDB, Inc., and a contractor with the NIEHS Division of Research and Training Beyond the Walls.)

Participants are shown at the 2019 IBT CER Course in Winslow, Arizona. (Photo courtesy of Charmaine Woolard)

from San Jose News Bulletin https://sjnewsbulletin.com/environmental-factor-may-2019-navajo-rail-workers-learn-protection-skills/