HAZWOPER training for emergency medical crews

August 28, 1995

Mr. Barry Nechis
President
Rescue Technology
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Nechis:

Thank you for your letter of March 25, 1994, concerning the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) regulation, 29 CFR 1910.120. We regret the long delay in providing this response.

Your questions request clarification on training requirements for private sector Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel. You state that you have received an interpretation from the New York State Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) program. As you are probably aware, State Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Programs are required to be at least as protective as Federal OSHA, but are free to be more stringent. Further, it is the individual employer, not OSHA, who must determine the expected job duties of their workers, and ensure that they are competent to perform these assigned duties safely. This memorandum provides only Federal OSHA's interpretation for the questions you have raised.

HAZWOPER does not necessarily apply to every incident in which an individual requiring medical treatment is contaminated with hazardous substance. OSHA can not require HAZWOPER training for incidents outside the scope of the standard, although such training may be beneficial. The first scenario described in your letter, of an individual overcome by pesticide in an apple orchard, would not be considered a HAZWOPER emergency, and therefore, would not be covered by the HAZWOPER standard. Your set of scenarios relating to a motor vehicle accident involving a truck displaying a Department of Transportation (DOT) hazardous materials placard would all be considered potential emergencies, and, therefore, responses to such incidents would be covered by HAZWOPER. Where there is no damage or release of the hazardous cargo, the incident can be quickly classed as a non-emergency and outside the scope of the standard. Likewise, your final scenario of an overturned car leaking gasoline should initially be treated as a potential HAZWOPER emergency, but in many cases could be quickly classed as a non-emergency.

You inquired specifically about First Responder Awareness Level and First Responder Operations Level training under the HAZWOPER standard. To be certified at these two responder levels, HAZWOPER requires that certain competencies be met, but does not require a training course per se. Workers must have sufficient prior training or experience to be able to "objectively demonstrate competency" in the skill areas specified in paragraphs (q)(6)(i) and (q)(6)(ii). OSHA expects that in many cases EMS personnel will already be able to meet many of the competency requirements for these responder levels.

First Responder Awareness Level is intended for workers who are likely to encounter a hazardous substance emergency or potential emergency in the course of their job duties. This level enables workers to recognize the presence of hazardous conditions, stay away from the danger area, and call for additional, more highly skilled assistance. State troopers who are likely to come upon a transportation accident involving a hazardous materials tank truck would be trained to the First Responder Awareness Level.

First Responder Awareness Level certification would not be sufficient for EMS personnel to enter the danger area to perform rescue or provide medical treatment as you describe in your second set of scenarios. EMS personnel designated to enter the danger area to perform rescue or treat contaminated victims must be certified at the First Responder Operations Level. This designation is the responsibility of the EMS employer, and is not necessarily required for all EMS personnel. Also note that EMS personnel who provide treatment after victims have been removed from the danger area and decontaminated would not require HAZWOPER training. Standard emergency medical practice dictates that EMS personnel are to survey the accident scene and remain away from the hazard area until it is safe to approach. In the case of a HAZWOPER roadway emergency, the incident needs to be brought under control by more highly skilled emergency responders before it would be permissible for EMS personnel, including those certified at the Operations Level, to enter to perform rescue or provide medical treatment. Please refer to the enclosed page from the preamble to the HAZWOPER standard, which discusses this type of scenario.

First Responder Operations Level certification would also be required for EMS personnel designated to treat contaminated patients outside the danger area at a HAZWOPER emergency response, as described in your third scenario where a HAZMAT team member is injured and contaminated. However, EMS employers are only required to designate workers to treat contaminated patients if the EMS employer has agreed to be designated to provide this service in a site, facility, or community emergency response plan. Hazardous waste sites, hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities, and facilities with a potential for an emergency release of a hazardous substance are all required to plan for emergency medical treatment. These sites may request that an EMS provider agree to be designated in their emergency response plan. State Emergency Response Commissions and Local Emergency Planning Committees are also charged with the responsibility to consider the hazards present in their communities and plan accordingly. Local emergency planning is typically coordinated through the fire department. If an EMS organization has not agreed to be designated, then the EMS organization may not have any obligation to train workers under the HAZWOPER standard.

HAZWOPER does have provisions for scenarios where EMS services have not been planned for. If an EMS service which has not agreed to be designated is called upon to stand by at a HAZWOPER emergency response, EMS providers can be considered "skilled support personnel," described in paragraph (q)(4) of the standard. Skilled support personnel are to be given on-the-spot instruction on the hazards and on the use of any necessary, protective measures or equipment prior to treating contaminated victims. This briefing is generally provided by an individual from the hazardous waste site, or at an emergency response by a member of the responding HAZMAT team. If an EMS organization is not designated in any emergency response plan, but finds that they are repeatedly called upon to treat accident victims contaminated from a HAZWOPER incident, these workers can not be considered skilled support personnel, and the EMS employer must train and designate workers to the First Responder Operations Level.

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions please contact [the Office of Health Enforcement at (202) 693-2190].

Sincerely,
John B. Miles Jr., Director
Directorate of Compliance Programs

[Requester letter reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]

[Corrected 12/6/2024]