Abstract
ABSTRACT ID: 2017-197In response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster and resulting Gulf of Mexico oil spill (GOS), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) facilitated the conduct of health and safety training and development of training materials for over 147,000 cleanup workers (e.g., on-shore and off-shore volunteers, technical specialists) across four Gulf States. Of the approximately 47,000 trained workers who engaged in cleanup activities, 507 workers participated in a training evaluation effort (facilitated by community-based organizations) by completing the GOS Training Evaluation Survey. Survey respondents were primarily male from six racial/ethnic groups: Black, White, Asian (Vietnamese), Isleno, Hispanic, and Native American.The evaluation results demonstrate that, overall, the GOS training was very effective in enhancing trainee knowledge and environmental cleanup behaviors, and it had a meaningful impact on responder safety. Notably, when considering results stratified by workers' ethnicity/race, responders from sub-populations most vulnerable to the effects of the oil spill were not as positively affected by the training. Related, the results also indicated that the social and organizational aspects of the worksite, such as safety climate/culture, supported or inhibited the exhibition of safety behaviors learned during training. Results will be discussed with respect to making quality improvements to responder safety training, identifying best practices, and making better use of available resources and strategies.
Published Version
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