December 24, 2001—The US Department of Labor (DOL) announced on December 19, 2001, a new training partnership with the Laborers International Union to develop an anthrax/biohazard training curriculum. A grant totaling $208,650 from the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration was awarded to the Laborers as a first step in this partnership. The course material will be developed and tested through the combined expertise of the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Laborers, and other appropriate government entities.
The Laborers’ certified hazardous waste workers will utilize this new curriculum to upgrade their skills and fine-tune the training process. After pilot tests are complete, the curriculum will be used by other organizations to train workers in the removal of biochemical agents. The final training curriculum for distribution across the country will include training manuals, CD-ROM and Web-based curriculum, a PowerPoint presentation, and other training tools.
