National Training Working Group Gathers at Hanford

The HAMMER Federal Training Center and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory co-hosted this year's annual meeting of the Training Working Group, which is part of the Energy Facility Contractors Group.

RICHLAND, Wash. - The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) HAMMER Federal Training Center and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory co-hosted this year's gathering of the Training Working Group of the Energy Facility Contractors Group at the Hanford Site.

The annual meeting included a keynote address from Brian Vance, EM's manager of Hanford's River Protection and Richland Operations offices, followed by panel discussions on a wide variety of topics, including HAMMER's Worker Trainer Program.

"Our workforce benefits from the Worker Trainer Program, which brings current experiences from the Hanford Site into the classroom every day," said Vance. "By using hands-on training techniques in a realistic and controlled environment, our HAMMER team plays a vital role in the safety of our Hanford teammates as they progress our important cleanup mission."

Industrial safety training managers at the Hanford Site's HAMMER Federal Training Center discuss the Worker Trainer Program during a recent annual meeting of the national Training Working Group, a subgroup of the Energy Facility Contractors Group.

In the Worker Trainer Program, workers with current knowledge of the jobs and hazards at the site train other workers on how to safely conduct high-hazard work.

Panel discussions stressed the importance of partnerships and lessons learned when recruiting worker trainers and the benefits of peer-to-peer instruction to contractors, particularly the enhanced level of experience worker trainers bring to the training environment.

"Our worker trainers are the backbone of the cleanup work and know the importance of good hands-on training to keep themselves and their co-workers safe in a hazardous environment," said Steve Maiuri, HAMMER training director. "They have a passion for improving worker health and safety and making sure every worker gets back home safely each night."

HAMMER, which stands for Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response, began operations in 1994. The federal training center's motto is "Training as Real as it Gets!" because staff provide realistic, hands-on training to Hanford workers; military, national and international emergency responders; and U.S. Homeland Security Department personnel.

The Energy Facility Contractors Group supports Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration mission success by sharing best practices and information to support management and operational excellence.

-Contributor: Shane Edinger