The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
NFPA Haz-Mat Tech vs OSHA Haz-Mat Tech
Just wondering if anybody could shed some light on what the differences between the NFPA and OSHA haz-mat technician programs are? I know i've heard that the NFPA version is about 160 hrs and the OSHA is 40 hrs or something..Thanks everyone!
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
-
OSHA Hazmat Tech classes tend to be about 40 hours long. They are designed to meet the objectives of the HAZWOPER (hazardous waste site) requirements. The OSHA standard is the legal minimum standard.
The NFPA standard class takes around 80 hours. It includes all of the OSHA objectives, plus additional community plan, incident command, and WMD/terrorism objectives that are not included in OSHA hazmat technician classes.
-
Permalink Reply by Mick Mayers on
-
See, Ben, and I just happened to be strolling by. I was going to comment on our conversation yesterday about the little known (very little known) issue that NFPA technician actually isn't a professional qualification at all, but a training and operations standard whereas the OSHA is a minimum standard for technicians. But I'll drag that horse out and beat it after the bosses get a shot at it in a few weeks...
-
-
Yeah, I know, but I wanted to answer with the terminology that the TLP is used to.
On the other hand, the IFSAC "technician" class offers mostly individual skill set training, and precious little "team" training.
-
Permalink Reply by John Kayser on
-
The big difference between OSHA regulations (29 CFR 1910.120) and NFPA 472 standards is that OSHA is the law and must be followed. If your state is an OSHA state then it must follow the OSHA regulations. If your state is not like OHIO you must follow 40 CFR (EPA)which directs you back to 29 CFR 1910.120. (HAZWOPER) One big misconception is that people think NFPA has set hours; it does not, and no one can show or prove otherwise. OSHA has set hours for Operation Level (8Hrs), Technician (24 Hrs.)which you must comply with all of the competences listed in each section. Bottom line is that NFPA is just a standard which are just standards and OSHA is a regulation which must be followed by law.
-
-
If you take a NFPA 472-compliant hazmat technician class, you'll not only meet all of the OSHA HAZWOPER requirements, but you'll exceed most of them and be trained on things that HAZWOPER does not require.
Both the IFSAC and NPQ/Pro Board technician classes require OSHA and NFPA-compliant Operations certifications as a prerequisite. Both of those technician classes require all of the OSHA competencies, plus a few more emergency response competencies, plus all of the NFPA/ODP terrorism/WMD competencies that OSHA doesn't address.
What you missed here, John, is that the NFPA doesn't certify hazmat technicians, it just sets standards.
Training and certification groups like IFSAC and NPQ/Pro Board teach the actual classes. Those classes DO have set hours, and their content exceeds the HAZWOPER OSHA standards. I have both certifications, and the OSHA class wasn't even in the ballpark with what I learned in the NFPA-compliant class.
-
-
Ben,
The difference between NFPA 472 standards and OSHA HAZWOPER regulations are NFPA defines in more detail what the competencies are.
As far as hours you must have to become a NFPA Technician, please tell me where I can find them in NFPA 472, because I can not, nor can anyone else I have asked to show me. But I can show in OSHA (HAZWOPER) and EPA 311 how many hours one must complete to become a HAZ Tech or an Operations Level responder.
I think people who say that they need to be NFPA compliant do not fully understand what they need. They need to be either OSHA compliant or for those states that are not an OSHA state, they must comply with EPA. There is no such thing as you HAVE to be NFPA compliant. (NFPA does not fine organizations or people, OSHA does)
One last thing Ben, if your NFPA tech course was that much better than your OSHA course, you had the wrong provider giving the course.
-
-
John,
What part of the NFPA not certifying Hazmat technicians don't you understand?
To be blunt, the OSHA standards are inferior to what is taught in any of the three NFPA 472-compliant hazmat technician courses with which I'm familiar. IFSAC, NPQ/Pro Board, and EMACs HMT courses include EVERY OSHA required objective and competency. They also include many competencies that are not included in the OSHA standard, but are included in real life situations.
Further, the OSHA standard isn't NIMS compliant, and IFSAC, NPQ/Pro Board, and EMACS are.
You are hung up on a specified hours requirement, but what you're missing is that your will spend many more hours in any of the three courses I've named than you will in a basic OSHA technician course. IFSAC and EMACS technician courses are 80 hours. Subtract the 16 hours or so they spend on awareness and ops certs, and you still have 64 hours of competencies in those courses - 250% of the course time in the OSHA/EPA courses. NPQ/Pro Board requires an Operations certificate to get in the door of the class, and then requires 36 hours of technician class plus the 4 hours or so of testing - also more hours than the OSHA class requires.
There's no doubt that YOU don't understand what NFPA compliant means. It means that you'll be OSHA compliant about halfway through the NFPA-compliant class. So much for your hang-up about hours.
As for "there is no such thing as you HAVE to be NFPA compliant, that's completely inaccurate. There are many local and regional Hazmat teams - and several states - that require NFPA compliance, because the people that regulate hazmat response there understand that the NFPA standards are higher and more comprehensive.
As for your last claim, it's completely bogus. I submit that you don't have the experience to back up what you said. I can tell you with absolute certainty that my first OSHA technican class was good (from Safety Systems), my OSHA/EPA class (from Genesis Environmental) was better, and my EMACs class(from ISFIS) was better than both of the other two put together. I also recently coordinated a NPQ/Pro Board technican class for my department (taught by TEEX)was also much better than any OSHA class.
The wrong provider. You flatly don't know what you're talking about.
-
Permalink Reply by Marc Hansen on
-
OSHA is site specific training required to be given by employers for chemicals on site, with exceptions for small or occasional receiptants of haz-mat shipments. OSHA does not certify instructors but does list non mandatory general requirements for site specific training(read the text here: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STAND...) also the text: "There are two National Fire Protection Association standards. NFPA 472 - "Standard for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Material Incidents" and NFPA 471 - "Recommended Practice for Responding to Hazardous Material Incidents", which are excellent resource documents to aid fire departments and other emergency response organizations in developing their training program materials. NFPA 472 provides guidance on the skills and knowledge needed for first responder awareness level, first responder operations level, hazmat technicians, and hazmat specialist. It also offers guidance for the officer corp who will be in charge of hazardous substance incidents." is included here: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=9768&....
The NFPA trains for an all hazard response to a release of an unkown substanse and uses trainers are required to have had 1)educational methodology classes 2)train the trainer in that specific course 3)And the course itself normally multiple times.
One last reference from OSHA : "National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards. The NFPA is a nonprofit organization that develops and publishes over 300 consensus codes and standards on protection from fire and other risks. The NFPA is recognized as a national consensus standards development organization. Their standards development process is approved by the American National Standards Institute.
(1) OSHA modeled the emergency response provisions in HAZWOPER after certain parts of the NFPA standards. CSHOs may review NFPA 472, "Standard for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Material Incidents," and NFPA 471, "Recommended Practice for Responding to Hazardous Material Incidents," and NFPA 1500, "Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program." These guidelines may be used as supplementary material in understanding and complying with the emergency response provisions of HAZWOPER. NFPA 472 is referenced repeatedly in HAZWOPER's non-mandatory Appendix E, Training Curriculum Guidelines.
(2) In general, employers of emergency response organizations who follow the NFPA standards should be in compliance with 29 CFR 1910.120(q). It is important that the applicable portions of all related standards be followed. For instance, NFPA 471 no longer addresses the position of "Safety Officer" (i.e., the individual designated by the IC to evaluate hazards). However, NFPA 1500 contains a chapter on Emergency Response with broad applicability, and which addresses risk analysis and the Safety Officer position. A designated "Safety Official" (Safety Officer) is mandatory in HAZWOPER, and the absence of a "Safety Official" in a HAZMAT team shall be cited as a failure to comply with 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(3)(vii). See Section XI.D.7. of this instruction for further information concerning the Safety Official." and can be found here: "http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=3671#XII"
While John was technically correct on the difference of between OSHA as a regulatory agency with the ability to fine and the NFPA being a standards organization every class I've taken in the fire service has covered the applicable OSHA 29CFR1910 or equivalent law.
-
-
Ben,
for me to be qualified to sit for firefighter 1 certification I am required to be certified to NFPA 472 for Hazmat Ops to even fill out the application. Without firefighter 1 I am not allowed to take the written or skills test for any of the driver/operator certifications. Also for General Rescue Tech you are required to have NFPA 472 as a prerequisite. Without GRT you are unable to to certify as a rescue tech in any specialty. So according to the PA State Fire Commisioner's office I am required to have NFPA 472 unless I dont want to prove that I meet the minimum competency requirements to be a firefighter. Just as an aside Ohio is an accredited ProBoard organazation so for firefighter 1 or 2 you are also required to be NFPA 472 certified
-
-
I've confined my previous comments exclusively to hazmat response, but obviously there are NFPA hazmat standard implications to firefighting and technical rescue, as you state.
Excellent comments.
-
-
More information on some of the NFPA-compliant hazmat technician courses
NPQ-ProBoard 80-hour class from DuPont
The University of Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute (MFRI) 51-hour Hazmat Technician course which meets NFPA 472, results in IFSAC certification, and exceeds the OSHA HAZWOPER requirements.
Emergency Response Training Center, Colorado IFSAC 80-hour hazmat technician course, meets NFPA 472, exceeds OSHA.
North Carolina Hazmat Certification (IFSAC) meets NFPA 472 and exceeds OSHA.
Alabama Fire College NPQ/Pro Board 40-hour Hazmat Technician, meets NPFA 472, exceeds OSHA.
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
