The Journey Begins & Information on Safety for Workers and Volunteers

I am in the middle of completing the required OSHA training program, HAZWOPER. That stands for "Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response" and is mandated under federal regulations as 29 CFR 1910.120. Although my main responsibilities will be cleanup oversight and impact assessment, OSHA requires all respondents (workers) to be trained to the highest level of responsibility that might be assigned to them.

A Note to Volunteers & Potential Volunteers

Federal OSHA regulations do not cover uncompensated workers, aka volunteers. However, in states with their own approved State OSHA Plans, volunteers are covered by the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) own HAZWOPER standard (Superfund Worker Protection or 40 CFR 311), which has identical requirements as OSHA's standard, but covers state and local government employees, both compensated and volunteers. NONE of the Gulf coast states (AL, FL, LA, MS) currently impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have approved State Plans.

See http://www.osha.gov/Publications/3172/3172.html for detailed information about HAZWOPER specifically for Marine Oil Spill Response Workers. This same document provides information on the hazardous chemicals and their effects associated with marine oil spill response and cleanup operations.