Building a comprehensive hazmat and emergency preparedness training program at the West coast ports

Workers at the nation's ports face a variety of health and safety concerns related to the handling of hazardous materials. Dockworkers, rail workers, truck drivers and others who load, unload and otherwise handle these goods at intermodal facilities are all potentially exposed to hazardous materials through routine handling practices or in emergency situations, making it imperative that these workers be adequately trained. At the same time, complicated employment structures and labor-management relations at many port facilities create barriers to comprehensive training programs designed to protect the health and safety of workers and the surrounding community.

Since 2005, the Western Region Universities Consortium has been working with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) at port facilities along the West coast to implement a training program to improve the hazmat skills and emergency preparedness of port workers. The consortium has had some success in conducting training courses at individual port facilities, but has faced a number of challenges to date in implementing the program coastwide.

This paper will describe the major lessons learned in terms of the political landscape, dynamics and principal decision makers at the West coast ports. It will identify the role that union organization and labor-management relations play in creating both challenges and opportunities for a successful training program. And it will consider the applicability of the consortium's experiences for efforts to implement similar hazmat and emergency preparedness training programs at other worksites around the country.