BY ALAN VEASEY
As all haz-mat trainers realize, training above the first responder awareness level requires hands-on training. Effective hands-on training requires facilities that allow trainees to safely develop the skills they may be called on to use in responding to actual emergencies. We are all aware of training programs that provide elaborate, expensive, state-of-the-art field training facilities. Trainers who teach in those programs can count themselves as lucky indeed. In contrast, many of us work for training organizations that lack the finances and space needed to establish elaborate facilities.
As an alternative, we can improvise facilities that accommodate budgetary restrictions, overcome limitations on available space for training, and still allow us to conduct effective hands-on training. This article describes improvised facilities used for effective hands-on training by trainers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Center for Labor Education and Research (UAB/CLEAR).
ESTABLISHING TRAINING FACILITIES: A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH
Like so many other things in haz mat, the process of establishing effective training facilities should involve a careful, methodical approach. Important steps include the following:
- Carefully review the learning objectives of the training to be conducted.
- Establish specific hands-on training requirements.
- Assess the resources available for conducting training.
- Develop a plan for providing appropriate training facilities.
- Review all proposed facilities from the standpoint of trainee safety.
- Establish training facilities, and incorporate them into the training program.
- Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of training, and modify facilities as appropriate.
UAB/CLEAR personnel initially went through this process over a decade ago. At that time, we were somewhat discouraged by the time we reached step 4. We had no space dedicated for use as a field site and very limited funds designated for developing field facilities. Thus, we realized that, given the limitations under which we were operating, all facilities and equipment we developed would have to
- require no permanent use of field space;
- be cheap to purchase, build, or have fabricated;
- be portable and easy to assemble, disassemble, and store; and
- be versatile and applicable in mock response scenarios as well as basic skills development.
 Pipe stands are cheap, easy to build, and versatile. (Photos by author.) |
Once we got over our initial discouragement, we discovered that creative thinking and a “can-do” attitude can sometimes overcome limitations on available space and money. We were able to develop effective hands-on training facilities despite our resource limitations once we realized that training facilities don’t have to be elaborate to be effective.
Within the past couple of years, we have actually obtained a small field training site near our classroom facility and some funds for developing the site. By improvising and applying what we learned over our years of “gypsy” training, we have been able to establish a permanent training site complete with a custom ditch and containment training unit for training in haz-mat control.
CURBSIDE HAZ-MAT CONFINEMENT TRAINING
 The flange stand provides practice in tool use for containment operations. |
Spill confinement is a basic skill for all responders trained to the first responder operations level or above. Hands-on confinement training requires a location where trainees can practice diking, diverting, and retaining liquid products.
 The general containment training device (a.k.a. leak monster) requires six separate repair operations. |
For almost a decade, we have conducted confinement training simply by blocking off five parking spaces along the street in front of our classroom prior to the exercise. This allows existing gutters, manholes, and storm sewer inlets to be used in training. Water released from drums or hoses simulates spilled liquid product. Trainees are required to use commonly available items such as plastic sheeting, shovels, bagged materials, and sand or soil in spill control. This allows practice in activities such as building a dike to block the migration of a spill along a gutter, diverting liquid product past a manhole, and retaining a spill at a storm sewer inlet. It also allows practice in installing an inflatable culvert sealer bag in a pipe leading from the inlet box to the storm sewer main.
FABRICATING SIMULATORS FOR BACKYARD CONTAINMENT TRAINING
Since haz-mat technicians are required to contain leaks of hazardous materials, technician-level trainees must be provided with simulated releases so that they can practice containment skills. Simply knocking holes in a 55-gallon drum and running a hose to it provides students with flowing leaks to repair. However, such a device is useful for teaching only a limited array of containment techniques. Also, it may not be very challenging or fun for trainees.
 Pressurized chlorine containers offer trainees realistic practice in chlorine containment operations. |
Several types of portable devices (see photos) are used by UAB/CLEAR to teach a variety of containment techniques while allowing trainees to have fun in the process. Personnel with minimal mechanical skills can build most of these devices cheaply using readily available materials and common hand tools.1
HAND TOOLS
Leaking Pipe Stand
 The designer ditch is an artificial drainageway built with a concrete slab bottom and concrete block sides. |
The pipe stand is assembled from water pipe and various fittings and can be supplied with water using a garden hose or any other suitable source. Points of release such as holes, broken pipes, loose connections, and leaking valves allow trainees to practice a variety of containment techniques on pressurized leaks.
Flange Containment Training Device
The flange training device is a freestanding assembly of pipes and fittings containing a flange set to which a damaged section of pipe is attached. To repair this device, trainees are required to (1) remove the damaged pipe by unbolting and removing the upper flange section, (2) replace it with a flange section fitted with an open gate valve, and (3) close the gate valve.
General Containment Training Device
 The containment training unit allows practice in containing various points of release from pipes, fittings, and valves. |
The general containment training device (also known as the “leak monster”) was built using a junked water heater tank. It allows practice in a variety of containment operations and requires six separate repairs for completion. If all repairs are done correctly, a surge of water blows six table tennis balls out the top of the device. This device can be very challenging, especially for trainees working in Level A chemical protective equipment.
150-Pound Chlorine Cylinder
A junked 150-lb. chlorine cylinder, donated by a local supplier, was pressurized with compressed air through a fitting installed in the sidewall. Air from SCBA cylinders, regulated to a safe pressure, is used for pressurization. For leak detection, trainees use a spray bottle containing a soap solution. The bubbling of the soap solution when sprayed on points of leakage substitutes for the use of ammonia solution used for detecting leaks in an actual chlorine incident. This device allows trainees to practice various containment techniques using the Chlorine Institute Series “A” emergency kit.
Chlorine Ton Container
This device was purchased from a supplier of chlorine training aids. It consists of the head of a ton container mounted on a steel frame outfitted with a hoisting ring, casters, and carrying handles. UAB/CLEAR personnel pressurized the vapor valve by installing an air line fitting in the upper eduction pipe. The ton container head is used in much the same way that the 150-lb. cylinder is used in training and allows trainees to develop skill in using the Chlorine Institute “B” kit, as required for ton container repairs.
ESTABLISHING A VEST POCKET FIELD TRAINING SITE
The field site we recently obtained is less than one acre in area. Despite the site’s small size and the limited funds for developing it, we have found it to be a significant plus for our training program. The field site and improvements to it are shown in Figure 1.
The site was developed around hypothetical hot zone, warm zone, and cold zone locations. A concrete pad was poured in the cold zone to establish a location for donning chemical protective gear. Recently, we built a pavilion over the slab for rain protection and shade. A second concrete pad was poured in the warm zone to establish a decontamination area. Crushed stone was placed on all high-traffic areas to prevent muddy ground conditions.
To address the relatively short distance between the cold zone and the hot zone, a “privacy” fence was established along the hot line. Our trainees must enter this fenced area to enter the hot zone to conduct size-up or view what is happening there. We are, therefore, able to use the fence to simulate a significant distance between the hot and cold zones.
We conduct various skill-development exercises and establish mock response scenarios within the hot zone using portable props as well as stationary equipment. When not in use, portable equipment is broken down and stored along a heavily vegetated highway right-of-way fence that forms one boundary of the property.
CREATING A DESIGNER DITCH
Because the site had no existing drainageway for confinement training, we created a custom-designed ditch for use in spill-control exercises (see Figure 2). The ditch is 95 feet long and has a concrete-slab bottom and concrete block sides.
Water can be released from three sources at the upper end of the ditch: hoses, a 500-gallon fiberglass tank (donated when our local emergency management agency emptied its warehouse), and a stationary containment training unit.
The containment training unit consists of several pipes that protrude through a concrete slab adjacent to the designer ditch (see Figure 3). The flow of water through each pipe is controlled independently by a valve in a control box. The pipes are fitted with various valves, flanges, fittings, and damaged pipe sections that trainees are required to repair.
All water released prior to the completion of repairs on the containment training unit, as well as any released from the tank or hoses, flows down the concrete ditch, past a manhole in the ditch bottom, through a culvert pipe, and through a simulated storm sewer inlet into a 1,200-gallon sump at the bottom end (see Figure 3). This flowing water allows our trainees to practice diking, diverting, and retaining spills and to install an inflatable culvert sealer bag.
When building the ditch, we used surplus PVC pipe to create a pipeline from the sump to the upper end of the ditch. We hope eventually to be able to pump water from the sump through the pipe and release it at the upper end of the ditch. This will allow the sump water to be recycled at a steady rate to simulate stream flow down the ditch. Hopefully, this will allow training in confining water releases.
The designer ditch was relatively inexpensive to construct because all labor and some materials were obtained at no cost to us. Progress was slow because the campus construction crew worked on it only when they had nothing else to do. However, that was okay with us. The price was worth the wait.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
When conducting field training, as at all other times, trainees’ safety should be given the utmost consideration. For example, when conducting training with pressurized containers, the pressure is regulated to a relatively low level, trainees are cautioned, and instructors observe carefully to be sure that trainees do not take actions that might put them at risk. Also, area safety hazards, such as muddy footing conditions, can occur during field training, especially when water is used. Remember, it looks bad if people get hurt while we’re training them to be safe.
The facilities described here are versatile in that they can be used in simple exercises to teach basic skills or be incorporated into complex exercises such as mock incidents. However, you must fully consider training objectives anytime field facilities are implemented into a training program. For example, the containment training devices described here would not be appropriate for operations-level training.
Prerequisites are also an important consideration. For example, trainees in UAB/CLEAR’s haz-mat technician course are required to repair leaks on various devices while wearing a Level A ensemble of personal protective equipment (PPE). However, requisite objectives, such as containment procedures and use of PPE, are achieved separately earlier in the course.
MAKING THE MEANS MEET THE ENDS
Use a methodical approach in planning, establishing, and using haz-mat training facilities. The designs of the facilities described here were adapted for the most part to the location, equipment, and supplies readily available to UAB/CLEAR. These designs are intended primarily as examples and can be modified as needed to address specific objectives and use resources available to the trainer.
The challenge to us is to provide hands-on training facilities that allow our trainees to safely develop the skills they need in the real world. These facilities need not be fancy, elaborate, or expensive to be effective. Hopefully, by thinking creatively, maintaining a “can-do” attitude, and scrounging like crazy, we can make available resources fit our trainees’ needs.
Endnote
1 Drawings showing construction details of most of these devices can be found in my article “Creating Haz-Mat Containment Training Devices,” Fire Engineering, November 1996, page 67, and are also included in a text titled Effective Safety and Health Training by Barbara M. Hilyer, et al, (Lewis Publishers).
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ALAN VEASEY is training manager for the Workplace and Environmental Safety and Health Training Program operated by the Center for Labor Education and Research in the School of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB/CLEAR). He is a firefighter for the Cahaba Valley (AL) Fire and Emergency Medical Rescue District.
