CLEVELAND, June 10 — The US Department of Energy (DOE) has shipped large amounts and a variety of radioactive material by rail for years. The number of rail shipments is expected to increase in coming years. With the increase in rail shipments comes the increased risk for rail incidents involving radioactive material.
The Rail Workers Hazmat Training Program was awarded funding to provide training to rail workers to increase their knowledge of the transportation of radioactive materials. To meet this training need, the Rail Program will conduct a two-day Radiological Transportation Train the Trainer course.
Four BLET members will act as instructors during the course, including: Rick Bernard, Div. 226; Tim Croston, Div. 613; Carl Fields, Div. 682; and Gary Quick, Div. 362.
Past BLET instructors at the workshop have included Wisconsin State Legisltaive Board Chairman Tony Dimond and Oregon State Legislative Board Chairman Scott Palmer, who is the BLET’s foremost authority on worker safety issues related to the transportation of spent nuclear waste and other radioactive materials by rail.
This federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) provides transportation, lodging, and meals for training participants. It is also sponsored in part by funding from the North American Railway Foundation (NARF) to support peer trainer activities.
The 16-hour DOE-sponsored Modular Emergency Response Radiological Transportation Training (MERRTT) train the trainer course will be conducted on the George Meany Campus of the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md.
The program begins on Wednesday morning, July 21, at 8 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 22. Funding for this course will cover travel costs, overnight room accommodations and three meals a day at NLC. Call Freddie Thomas at the Hazmat office (301-439-2440) for more information.
Since space for this course is limited, completed registration forms should be faxed, mailed or e-mailed to the Hazmat office (see below) as soon as possible. Interested rail workers may also call the Hazmat office to register by phone, or register online:
http://www.hazmatgmc.org.
Registration form:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/DOE_Training_2010.pdf
Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program
10000 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, Maryland 20903
(301) 439-2440
(301) 628-0165 -fax
fthomas@nlc.edu