environmental tech
STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS
THE WORKFORCE INSTITUTE

The Workforce Institute of the City Colleges of Chicago acts as a "point of entry" to the many training and education services available through the seven City Colleges especially designed to meet the needs of Chicago companies. Utilizing our industry-experienced trainers, Chicago businesses have contracted with the Workforce Institute to their workforce training needs. Learn more at http://www.cccworkforceinstitute.com

HEALTH AND SAFETY EMPLOYEE TRAINING OBJECTIVESIt is generally understood that health and safety training can serve as a strong tool for the prevention of job related accidents and injuries as well as preparing employees to respond appropriately to hazardous materials incidents. Training is also a requirement of many OSHA standards, state laws and other regulatory bodies. But, most importantly, health and safety training can influence employee behavior that will result in a safer workplace for your employees and the public. It also provides employees with positive evidence that there is concern for their well being on the part of management.At your location, employee training is specified by several required facility documents. This includes a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan(SPCC); Safety Manuals; Hazard Communication Plans; Emergency Plans; and Confined Space Entry Programs, to name a few. The training mandates in these documents are intended to bring the facilities into regulatory compliance.HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING NEEDSWe can assist firms and facilities develop a formal health and safety training program for employees. It is generally accepted that when employees handle hazardous and toxic materials (as defined by OSHA) and/or where the potential for an unsafe condition exists, the employer needs to develop a training program that complies with existing law and internal organizational requirements. These training programs generally cover the following topics.

  • Hazard Communication for the process, maintenance and cleaning chemicals used at your facility by your employees including: hazard identification, hazard recognition, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), labels and steps used by you, the employer, to minimize exposure. Such methods might include ventilation, administrative measures and personal protective devices, methods employees can use to protect themselves and others from exposure to hazardous materials Confined space entry Emergency response preparedness training for hazardous materials incidents including spills and personnel exposure 40-Hour Hazwoper class Waste handling and disposal methods and procedures Bloodborne pathogens such as AIDS and other infectious diseases The use of personnel protective equipment such as respirators Air monitoring and other health and safety measuring techniques The health and safety aspects of lead-based paint removal Asbestos worker and inspector classes certified by IDPH Managing asbestos in place/Operations and Maintenance Pesticide and herbicide used by maintenance staff Slips, Trips and Falls and other muscular-skeletal events
  • Lockout/Tagout
It is often useful to perform a needs assessment to determine the training requirements of an organization. Such an assessment is based on confidential review of the documents developed for a facility and a survey of the facility operations. Based on this information we can determine what of these or other classes might be necessary for employees with varying job assignments.

HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING ORGANIZATION A training program can include a single class or a series of classes that respond to the requirements of OSHA and other regulatory bodies. Wright College is committed to working with you to ensure that the student learning objectives meet your needs and that delivery of the training is appropriate for your organization. PROGRAM INSTRUCTORSVictoria Cooper, Ph.D. will serve as the Program Director for our training programs and she will teach as required. Dr. Cooper has 25 years of experience teaching and consulting in the environmental field. The lead instructor and Technical Training Coordinator is Steve Flebbe, CHMM, CET. Steve Flebbe has been teaching this material for ten years and has also attended HMTRI. In addition, we hire adjunct faculty for special programs when required. Individual resumes are available on request. Our program instructors include individuals with both practical experience and professional credentials.TRAINING MATERIALSStudent Notebooks-Each student receives a notebook of material pertaining to general information about the subject being taught. The handouts are assembled from existing standardized materials. In addition, any material specific to the particular facility is also included in the notebook.
Classroom teaching material-All equipment needed to provide classroom simulations of spills and there clean up is available at the Wright College Campus. In addition, all protective equipment, including Personal Protective Equipment for exposure levels requiring protection at A, B, C, and D. All teaching aids such as video tapes, slides and overhead transparencies will be supplied by Wright College.TRAINING LOCATION

We understand that you may be interested in conducting training at your facility. We certainly understand your desire to keep your employees on site. We are happy to provide the training at your location. We suggest, however, that you consider holding some of the classes at our facility when a large amount of equipment is used for exercises and simulations. Therefore using our facilities often makes training more economical. By moving the classes off-site we are sacrificing the special facilities at the College. The Environmental Technology classroom at Wright is an electronic classroom that lets the instructor write or type on a computer and have it projected for student viewing. The Environmental Technology Program at Wright also has a dedicated chemistry laboratory used to demonstrate the principles of environmental hazards including corrosivity, reactivity, toxicity and flammability. These experiments are done in a safe laboratory environment with all the necessary safety equipment including eyewashes, showers and non-reactive surfaces. All students wear safety glasses while experiments take place. However, much of our equipment is portable. We are willing to provide training on-site if this is appropriate for you.