What is the significance of HAZWOPER Training?

HAZWOPER Training

If you work in cleanup in a hazardous environment – say, a dumpsite for industrial pollutants – or even if you’re just an employee visiting a designated uncontrolled hazardous waste operation, you’re required by law to have had the appropriate HAZPOWER training and have secured your HAZWOPER training. If you don’t have training, you’re not only endangering yourself (and others, perhaps), but also opening your employer to severe penalty for allowing you to work in a hazardous environment without HAZWOPER training. HAZWOPER stands for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, a program designed and implemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect workers at hazardous sites. OSHA is a pivotal component of the United States Department of Labor; without OSHA and HAZWOPER, the annual number of work-related injuries and fatalities (4,551 workers in2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries) would intolerably be higher.

Advantages

Having a HAZWOPER training not just ensures your safety (and your coworkers’, too) at the workplace, it also boosts your employability and salary minimum. According to PayScale, environmental health and safety (EHS) managers with HAZWOPER40-Hour earn at least $50,335 (with a range from $50,335 to $99,616) while an EHS without a HAZWOPER training can expect to earn a minimum of $48,392.