# Hazardous Materials Worker Health and Safety Training (U45), Cooperative Agreement

> **NIH NIH U45** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL · 2020 · $200,000

## Abstract

This is a proposal for a Northeast Region health and safety (H&S) training program for workers engaged in
hazardous waste operation and emergency response (HAZWOPER). It will have two components: Hazardous
Waste Worker (HWW) and Hazmat Disaster Preparedness (HDP) training. These will be implemented by The
New England Consortium-Civil Service Employees Association (TNEC-CSEA), a partnership of the University
of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) (lead organization), five New England coalitions for occupational safety and
health (COSH groups) in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, and CSEA Local
1000, AFSCME in New York. HAZWOPER work is inherently dangerous, presenting potential workplace
exposures to chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, and highly explosive agents which can lead to
occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. The H&S training provides this workforce with enhanced abilities
to protect themselves and surrounding communities from hazardous materials exposures. It is presented in a
participatory manner, with opportunities for practice and learning from peers, in accordance with adult
education principles. Since 1987, TNEC-CSEA has developed and delivered this training with NIEHS grant
support and has trained 35,202 workers in 2,212 courses, for a total of 479,541 contact hours. The HWW
Training Program will provide hazardous waste worker and/or emergency responder H&S training to over
2,000 workers annually in the six New England states (1,250) and New York (750); 60% of training hours will
be hands-on, multiple-day training courses. The HDP Training Program will provide HDP H&S training
annually to at least 1000 New York state, county, and municipal workers annually; 30 % of training hours will
be hands-on, multiple day train-the-trainer courses, and 69% of hours will be in single or partial day courses.
The primary disaster focus will be extreme weather events and other natural disasters. Combined targeted
worker populations include 175,000 private sector and 318,450 public sector workers in New England states
and 93,669 public sector workers in New York. They work in the hazardous waste remediation and/or
management sectors, construction, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, public and private
infrastructure operation and maintenance, public and private facilities maintenance and environmental
servicing, healthcare and education services, and the full range of emergency response personnel. The HDP
targets public sector skilled support personnel. An immigrant Worker Center network capacity building pilot
project in Massachusetts and Rhode Island is proposed to provide HDP H&S awareness training (muck and gut
and mold after flooding) in Spanish and Portuguese for Latino and Brazilian immigrant workers (40 workers
annually). The HDP aims to support more resilient hazmat disaster response, remediation, and recovery by
employers of these public sector and immigrant workers, as well as the communit...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10214212
- **Project number:** 3U45ES006172-29S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVID TURCOTTE
- **Activity code:** U45 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $200,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1992-09-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10214212

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10214212, Hazardous Materials Worker Health and Safety Training (U45), Cooperative Agreement (3U45ES006172-29S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10214212. Licensed CC0.

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