The OSHA Emergency Response Regulation for Hazardous Materials Specialists includes directives for those materials handlers whose “duties require a more directed or specific knowledge of the various substances they may be called upon to contain.” This means hazmat training is expected to be thorough and diverse so that EHS teams are ready to handle and transport a range of substances, especially those they might see every day. For Findlay All Hazards’s clients, this stipulation is not a concern. Findlay has developed custom training programs tuned to the kind of materials our clients work with regularly, and those they may encounter on occasion.

For seven consecutive years, a major chemical manufacturer has collected their specialist-level teams from across North America for on-hands training at Findlay’s five-acre training campus.  This thirty-two-hour customized course is presented three times each year. Over the course of those sessions, about a hundred and twenty team members will confidently increase their knowledge of emergency response to transportation-related incidents.

Findlay All Hazards trainers meet with the client’s team leaders to develop and update curriculum and exercises pertinent to their teams. Findlay designs each training scenario based on exact incidents to which the client’s team has already responded (or consulted on), or to which they are likely to respond. This has proven to be an ideal practice for the team members, as these scenarios are indeed faced later, in the field.

Findlay’s collection of major, full-scale props such as railcars, tankers, mixed loads, and all the necessary gear makes the training as real-world as it gets. Findlay All Hazards trainers prepare the equipment and integrate the team’s response plans, procedures, and specific products into practices.  Each participant plays the role they would serve in an actual response, or they may practice a new task.

To provide a new level of expertise for these specialist level team members, Findlay not only brings their in-house subject matter experts, but also invites guest speakers, company team leaders, and local public response agencies to participate in the training. This lets trainees drill down to very specialized areas, including any detailed company specifics.

Findlay All Hazards turn-keys these training events, providing the venue, logistics, custom agendas, and delivery, planning all facets with team leaders. This year, Findlay will be hosting another client for two sessions of sixty team members each.  Top corporations want to work in Findlay, because Findlay All Hazards takes the time to learn about what their customers do, and turns that work experience into the training their teams receive.

And, while Findlay All Hazards’s training is tailored for the customer, it also meets the required regulatory and industry standards.  Each hands-on scenario is designed with a specific competency in mind. So, while refreshing company specifics, a required competency is also being tested.  The best companies have learned that there is nothing more valuable than getting their teams together, each sharing their ideas and experiences with the other.  And there is no better time to do that than while training.

If you haven’t visited Findlay’s Ohio training facilities, contact Findlay today to schedule a tour.  Our team of training managers are eager to meet with you and to build a custom program for your specialized EHS teams.