| In their search for ways to prevent such disasters | | | | illegal dumping. |
| from repeating, it was found that many facilities | | | | The methods of dealing with these hazardous |
| operated in extremely unsafe manners when it came | | | | materials, often summarized as "HAZMATs," varies |
| to dealing with hazardous chemicals and materials. | | | | greatly from chemical to chemical. Since a modern |
| Workers were routinely poisoned or forced to simply | | | | factory may, in fact, have several thousand |
| dump chemicals where they could in order to | | | | HAZMATs, all of which have different dangers, a |
| preserve themselves. Most industrial workers had no | | | | federally approved training regimen was developed. |
| idea what the chemicals they were working with did | | | | This is designed to summarize these dangers and help |
| to their bodies, especially since most of them had | | | | even the poorly educated to understand the dangers |
| only a high school education or less. | | | | of these materials. The flagship program has been |
| As such, the Occupational Safety and Health | | | | titled the "40-Hour HAZWOPER Training Program." |
| Administration (OSHA) took on the task of | | | | The 40-hour part refers to the fact that it takes one |
| preventing pollution by ensuring that industrial | | | | workweek to complete, and "HAZWOPER" stands |
| workers had the education and training necessary to | | | | for HAZardous Waste Operations and Emergency |
| protect themselves and to dispose of waste safely. | | | | Response. This program is offered by state and |
| Not only would this ensure that workers would be | | | | federal authorities, as well as many licensed education |
| less likely to be poisoned or injured by hazardous | | | | institutions. A large portion of the training regimen is |
| materials, it ensured that workers would know | | | | available on the Internet. The 40-hour HAZWOPER is |
| enough to be able to report illegal dumping or | | | | required for almost all site workers, and is the first of |
| improper disposal to the proper authorities. To this | | | | a seven-step program that enables anyone to |
| day, a bounty system remains in place for those | | | | master the handling of potentially hazardous materials. |
| workers able to prove that their company engages in | | | | |