HAZWOPER

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HAZWOPER (/ˈhæzˌwɑ.pɚ/) is an acronym for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. It refers to any persons, environmentalists, employees who are exposed or potentially exposed to hazardous substances, including hazardous waste, and who are engaged in one of five operations covered by the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response; that are certified by a qualified trainer.

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[edit] History

Originally, the term was derived from the United States of America's Department of Defense's Hazardous Waste Operations (HAZWOP), military bases operations slated for clean-up that were left after World War II. One such location is the Hanford Site, where materials for the first nuclear bomb to be used in war were produced. Mike Moore (former OSHA Employee) and others who worked on the original standards with OSHA created HAZWOPER as it was based on input from OSHA, USCG, NIOSH, and EPA. In 1984 the joint agency effort published the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Guidance Manual[1].

HAZWOPER gained popularity as a term because of the Superfund - a large pool of US tax dollars which pay for cleanup of abandoned hazardous waste sites. The term has spread to Canada into clean-up of abandoned radar bases from the Cold War era like the Distance Early Warning Line sites which is an international effort of French Canadian and some US firms. These operations have become international through efforts of the Chicago Safety Institute and others for Inuit, English and French speaking peoples. Furthermore, there are even HAZWOPER certified persons in the United Arab Emirates taking the lead in the Mid East to clean up the environment.

The term HAZWOPER recently has been referenced in international cleanup, mostly where U.S. military bases are still being cleaned up, or in some cases NATO allies such as Canada, particularly when U.S. firms are involved with Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. Other countries are working on adopting the standards set by OSHA to protect workers. In some cases it has proven difficult because there may not be existing rules to tell workers about the hazards to which they are being exposed.

[edit] Occupations

One of the highest-paid HAZWOPER jobs is that of the environmental scientist, who must be HAZWOPER trained before going into the field to work. Professional engineers and business entrepreneurs also tend to benefit from the occupation, as do consultants such as the Chicago Safety Institute, who travel around the world training people who clean up hazardous waste. Additional information, including training and job descriptions for cleanup workers, can be found at http://www.hazwoper.info, http://www.dol.gov and http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos256.htm

[edit] Scope

The scope of a HAZWOPER's job includes:

  • Clean-up
  • Corrective Actions RCRA
  • Voluntary Clean-up
  • Operations at TSDF (Treatment, Storage & Disposal Facility - specifically for hazardous waste) pursuant to RCRA (Resource Conservatin & Recovery Act - A federal act dealing with how to dispose of hazardous waste).
  • Emergency Response Operations

Chemicals are regulated and not specifically dangerous goods or hazardous materials, but they may also be included. The list also includes EPA-listed Hazardous Substances or Extremely Hazardous Substances.

Areas with the most HAZWOPERs are major metropolitan areas with a large industrial base, such as Chicago, Illinois. The site with the most HAZWOPER trained personnel is the Hanford site. The site is approximately 500 square miles in size, and clean-up and reclamation activities continue to this day.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ DHHS (NIOSH) Pub. no. 85-115 Occupational Safety and Health Guidance Manual for Hazardous Waste Site Activities