HazMat Tech Refresher???

[Rescuespike]

I am looking to see if I need a refresher to keep my status of Haz Mat Tech. Several members of my department, including myself, have taken the courses through the National Fire Academy. I have had this status for about five years now and every year I go though the last half of the tech class as a "refresher" as I was told is required. The problem is that this year the classes that were held were close to 100 miles away or more. There is a class scheduled next year that is relatively close to me, but over one year would have gone by. Do I lose my status of tech? Do I revert back to ops level? If somebody could help I would appreciate it.

Chris Schultz
Riverview Fire

[Petie]

Chris,
Your status as a Technician is certified by your employer and thus it is their responsibility to maintain your competencies. Federal law in 29 CFR 1910.120 and Wisconsin statute Chapter 32 state that the employer may maintain competencies by either classes/training or through periodic testing. This should be completed on an annual basis. If it is not and you lose competency you have lost Technician status. The whole idea here is for you to be properly trained for your safety. Employers have to realize that initial training does not suffice in any endeavor. Would your fire department allow only initial training for firefighters? I hope not because that is negligent. Why should hazmat training be any different?
As far as where do you revert to? That also comes down to the training your employer has maintained through annual training or testing. If it has been awhile and competencies have declined then the department may not even have competent operations personnel. If something happens at a hazmat emergency the first thing the people from the Wisconsin Department of Workplace Development will say is "can we see your training records?" Good luck!

[Rescuespike]

Petie,

Thanks for the information. That answers my question.

Chris Schultz
Riverview Fire

[sylvester]

Chris,
My name is Chris and I am on a VFD out in Colorado. Like yourself, I also have to have a "day" job that allows me to be active in our fire community here. I was able to find a job that sells fire fighter training materials, including Haz Mat Technician, so call me if I can help answer your questions.

Chris Willis
Allenspark Fire
800-544-3473