HAZWOPER First Responder Awareness Training

The HAZWOPER First Responder Awareness course is made up of over 30 award-winning interactive modules, self-grading quizzes, and a final exam.

An OSHA Study Timer helps you track your study time and your completed hours all count as Continuing Education Units (CEUs). U.S.-based support is available throughout the course.

This HAZWOPER training has been awarded 1.34 Industrial Hygiene CM Points by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) — approval number 13334. This course is eligible for .80 Continuance of Certification (COC) points from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP).

At the conclusion of this course, students will have a basic understanding of hazardous materials, how to identify them, and what to do if they are the first responder to an incident involving the release of a hazardous substance.

Course specifics include the four main responsibilities of First Responders at the Awareness level:

• Recognition and identification of hazardous materials.
• Isolation, evacuation, and restriction of access to the affected area.
• Protection of self and of the public, including the use of personal protective equipment.
• Notification of the next level of response according to the employer’s Emergency Response Plan.

HAZWOPER First Responders Awareness level operations need to have sufficient training or experience to:

• Know what hazardous substances are, and the risks associated with them in an incident
• Know the potential outcomes associated with an emergency created when hazardous substances are present
• Recognize the presence of hazardous substances in an emergency
• Identify the hazardous substances, if possible
• Know their role in the employer’s emergency response plan including site security and control and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Emergency Response Guidebook
• Realize the need for additional resources, and to make appropriate notifications to the communication center

Plan States (approved by U.S. OSHA) must have standards at least as stringent as the Federal HAZWOPER training requirements. These Plan States may have additional training requirements.

What is the first responder awareness level?

29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6)(i) First Responder Awareness Level – Generally, law enforcement and facility security personnel should be trained to the first responder awareness level since they are likely to witness or discover a release of a hazardous substance. Security guards or other similar personnel who, upon discovery of a release requiring an emergency response, are limited to activation of an alarm, notification of appropriate authorities, and controlling access to the release from a remote area (safe distance) must also at a minimum receive first responder awareness level training. These employees can initiate an emergency response sequence by notifying the authorities of the release, including alarm activation. Employees trained to the awareness level may control entry to and exit from the site from a remote location but must not assist in setting up safe distances because they lack knowledge regarding the potential for exposure, explosions, or radiation.