HAZWOPER Training 8-Hour Refresher — Waste Site Workers

According to OSHA, a "cleanup operation" is an operation where hazardous substances are removed, contained, incinerated, neutralized, stabilized, cleared-up, or in any other manner processed or handled with the goal of making the site safer for people or the environment. All employees working on sites with cleanup operations covered by the HAZWOPER standard must receive initial and refresher training if they are exposed to hazardous substances, health hazards, or safety hazards. The following worker types must receive annual, 8-hour refresher training, per 29 CFR 1910.120(e)(8):

• General waste site workers - Workers (such as equipment operators, general laborers and supervisory personnel) engaged in hazardous substance removal or other activities that expose or potentially expose the workers to hazardous substances and health hazards.
• Routine site workers - Workers regularly onsite who work in areas that have been monitored and fully characterized indicating that exposures are under permissible exposure limits (PELs) and published exposure limits where respirators are not necessary, and the characterization indicates that there are no health hazards or the possibility of an emergency developing.
• Non-routine site workers - Workers onsite only occasionally for a specific limited task (such as, but not limited to, groundwater monitoring, land surveying, or geo-physical surveying) and who are unlikely to be exposed over PELs and published exposure limits.
• On-site management and supervisors - Managers and supervisors directly responsible for, or who supervise employees engaged in, hazardous waste operations.

The above employees, managers, and supervisors shall receive 8 hours of refresher training annually in the following and other relevant topics:

• Names of personnel and alternates responsible for site safety and health;
• Safety, health, and other hazards present on the site;
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) use;
• Work practices by which the worker can minimize risks from hazards;
• Safe use of engineering controls and equipment on the site;
• Medical surveillance requirements, including recognition of symptoms and signs that might indicate overexposure to hazards;
• Decontamination procedures;
• The site's emergency response plan for safe and effective responses to emergencies, including the necessary PPE and other equipment;
• Confined space entry procedures; and
• The site's spill containment program.

Managers and supervisors must also be refreshed annually in the employer's safety and health program and the associated employee training program, personal protective equipment program, and health hazard monitoring procedure and techniques.