IAM CREST Receives $600K Grant for Hazmat Training
July 14, 2016
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The IAM has won a grant to train 66 new airline and rail workers this year to become instructors to their peers on how to work safely around hazardous materials.
The IAM-sponsored Corporation for Re-Employment and Safety Training (CREST) received a grant award of nearly $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
IAM CREST has received the grant every year since 2008, and has trained 583 IAM members to become Associate Instructors. Those instructors have trained 50,303 workers on the dangers of working with and around hazardous materials.
“As the workplaces gets more complicated, it becomes more and more important to be aware of the hazards and how to protect your health and safety,” said IAM Director of Safety and Health Jim Reid. “This grant helps us spread that information to our members in the airlines and railroads.”
CREST works with districts and locals to identify instructors who will deliver the training to members working around hazardous materials. The program stresses the importance of identifying hazardous materials and the hazards associated with them, including: First Responder Awareness, Hazard Recognition, Hazardous Material Regulations, Agencies, Security, Toxicology, Chemical and Physical Properties, Resources, and HMR Regulatory Review. A comprehensive Shop Safety Brief Guide is also presented and available free of charge to attendees and IAM/TCU members.
The PHMSA grant provides for nearly 20 percent of CREST’s funding which is obtained through DOT Grants, joint programs and other grants.
Visit the IAM’s Pipeline Hazardous Material Worker Training website for more information.
