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The U.S. Department of Energy has shipped large amounts and varieties of radioactive material by rail for years and the number of rail shipments is expected to increase. With this rise in shipments comes the increased risk for rail incidents involving these materials.

The Rail Workers’ Hazmat Training Program has been awarded funding to provide safety training to rail workers to increase their knowledge of the transportation of radioactive materials. To meet this training need, the rail program at the National Labor College will conduct a two-day Radiological Transportation Train the Trainer course from April 25-27, 2013.

This federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) provides transportation, lodging and meals for training participants. No stipend or per diem is allowable under the conditions of this grant.

The 16-hour DOE Modular Emergency Response Radiological Transportation Training (MERRTT) course will be held at Holiday Inn in Laurel, Md. The program begins on Thursday morning, April 25, at 8 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. It will include an intermission at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 26, for observance of Workers’ Memorial Day activities at the National Labor College.

Interested rail workers can register online at http://www.hazmatgmc.org by selecting the course desription tab, followed by the “Register Now” link for the Radiological Transportation Training.

Space for this course is limited and registrations must be received no later than 1 p.m. April 10, 2013.

For more information, call Freddie Thomas in the Hazmat office at (301) 431-5457, or email fthomas@nlc.edu.

The National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., has scheduled several hazardous materials train-the-trainer programs to help build a nationwide pool of peer instructors.

Funded by the Department of Transportation, the train-the-trainer courses provide regional peer trainers with the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver this awareness level hazmat training at their job-sites, union meetings and in their communities.

An advanced instructor training course will be held in St. Louis, June 18-22.

Basic courses will be held July 16-21 and July 22-27 at the National Labor College campus in Silver Spring, Md.

These three courses may require participants to have completed other courses.

For more information on the prerequisites, and to register, go to www.hazmatgmc.org and scroll to “2011-12 DOT HMIT Grant Hazardous Materials Instructors Training,” or send questions via email to hjajuga@nlc.edu.

The National Labor College said additional courses may be scheduled between Jun 1 and Sept. 30.

 

WASHINGTON — A doubling in the number of damaged or leaking hazardous materials containers shipped by rail has prompted the UTU and six other rail labor organizations to petition the Federal Railroad Administration for enhanced safety standards to protect rail workers and the public.

Rail labor is concerned that the FRA routinely grants special permission for railroads to transport damaged hazardous materials containers on mainline tracks to repair facilities.

In fact, the number of such requests has more than doubled since 2007, subjecting rail workers and the public to an unacceptable risk of exposure, the labor organizations told the FRA.

“Railroads and shippers must do more to reduce the incidence of non-conformance,” the organizations told the FRA.

Among changes sought by rail labor is advance notification to rail workers and necessary protection when workers are in the vicinity of damaged containers transporting hazmat.

Current federal regulations provide no requirement that safety devices be provided to protect rail workers from exposure to hazmat.

The labor organizations told the FRA that operating crews should be provided emergency escape breathing apparatus when involved in the movement of hazmat containers.

Although there have been no injuries or known exposures, the risk of employee exposure will only increase if the current rate of movement approvals continues, the FRA was told.

“Railroads and shippers have a business interest in timely review and approval of movement requests,” the labor unions told the FRA.

“As soon as the backlog impacts their bottom line, railroads and shippers will pressure FRA to accelerate the approval process. Such acceleration will undoubtedly diminish the level of detail and due diligence now afforded each request, resulting in an increased probability of unintended consequences such as fire, explosion or chemical exposure,” rail labor said.

In addition to the UTU, rail labor organizations jointly providing the comments to the FRA include the American Train Dispatchers Association, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Transport Workers Union, and the Transportation Communications Union.

Click here to read rail labor’s submission to the FRA.