Grant Funded Projects
Project SEAMIST
The Office of Education, Planning and Research houses several local, state, and federally grant funded projects for training and research. One of the projects includes a NIEHS supported training program in IDEP for those individuals involved in ports, oil rigs, and law enforcement jurisdiction.
In addition, the Office of Education, Planning and Research (OEPR) has other projects also listed below.
The Institute for Disaster and Emergency Preparedness, or IDEP, received funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to provide training under their Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program. With the funding from NIEHS, IDEP has brought together a number of partners to provide hazardous materials/hazardous waste health and safety training to individuals associated with the maritime industry. The result of these partnerships is Project SEAMIST (Southeast Area Maritime Industry Safety Training). IDEP is working with maritime industry and law enforcement representatives in Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia to bring this training to individuals in those states.
Target student populations:
- Port workers
- Dock workers
- Port Authority/Law enforcement
- Off shore workers
- Oil industry workers
- Cruise ship personnel (shipboard and dockside)
Project SEAMIST will provide three levels of training:
- Hazardous Materials Awareness - this course will introduce the student to the laws, standards and regulations that apply to hazardous materials incidents and response and provide the student with information about who to notify and when upon becoming aware of an incident involving hazardous materials. The goal of this course is to recognize a hazardous materials incident, notify appropriate authorities, and maintain the safety of personnel.
- Hazardous Materials Operations - the primary focus of this course is to provide personnel with the knowledge and skills to take defensive actions at a scene involving hazardous materials or hazardous waste and in doing so protect themselves, the public, property, and the environment. This level of training involves understanding the appropriate response and implementing that plan to provide a favorable outcome.
- Hazardous Materials Technician - after completing this course, students will be able to safely and effectively operate in a hazardous materials environment. A hazmat technician should be able to analyze a hazardous incident, develop an appropriate response plan, implement the response plan, evaluate the progress of the response and adjust the plan as necessary to favorably change the outcomes, and be able to successfully terminate the response.