EH&S provides safety training to students, staff and faculty.
We offer training on a variety of environmental and safety topics throughout the year.
EH&S Fire Extinguisher Training
Many of our trainings are mandated by government regulations but custom classes are designed and offered by request. See the Brochures section for more information on numerous safety topics.
Some employees have the potential for exposure to hazardous conditions and are required by law to participate in the Occupational Medical Monitoring Program. Please contact EH&S or your supervisor for more information.
Use the Training Calendar to sign up for many of the classes offered by EH&S.
Typical training classes offered by EH&S:
- Aerial Lift Training
- Asbestos, Lead & Silica Awareness
- Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Training
- Bloodborne Pathogen Training
- Building Captain & Floor Manager Training
- Community Advisor Safety Training
- Confined Space Entry
- Fire Extinguisher Training
- Hearing Conservation Training
- Heat Exposure Training
- Hazard Communication (HAZCOM)
- Hazardous Waste Training
- Laboratory Safety
- Lockout/Tagout Training
- New Employee Orientation
- Radiation Safety
- Respirator Training & Fit Testing
- Supervisor Occupational Health & Safety Training
- Teaching Assistant Training
EH&S offers several trainings only when requested by individuals, departments, shops, or buildings. These include:
- Building Specific Safety Training
- Ergonomic Training
- Lifting/Back Safety Training
- Specific Personal Protective Equipment Training
EH&S can design training courses specific to your needs. Please Contact Us if there are health or safety trainings that you would like to have available.
If you need accommodation for training, please contact EH&S at x6496.
Contact us if you don’t see the training class you are interested in.
Training Classes
Aerial lift training is required every three years for everyone on campus who operates a powered lift (boom, pod, and/or scissor lifts).
The training is done in two parts. The first part is classroom instruction on:
- Inspecting lifts prior to use
- Safe use of the lift
- Identification of workplace hazards that can affect the lift and operator safety.
The second part has each participant perform a pre-operation check and then demonstrate operation of the lift (or lifts) they use in their job.
Asbestos, lead, & silica awareness training is offered in January or February and as needed throughout the year.
It is required annually for Class IV workers who come into contact with, but do not disturb, asbestos containing materials. This training is designed to comply with WAC 296-62-07722 and as a result this training is two hours long.
This training also briefly covers lead and silica that may be present in the workplace.
This training is a basic introduction to operating an AED. It is usually combined with Fire Extinguisher Training
Bloodborne pathogen (BBP) training is offered annually in January or February and once a month for new hires. It is required annually for anyone who’s work could involve contact with human blood or bodily fluids.
The class is designed to cover the requirements of WAC 296-823, Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens.
This training is to introduce Building Captains and Floor Managers to the program. It covers program responsibilities and also goes through AED and Fire Extinguisher trainings.
A refresher training is offered annually to remind everyone of their responsibilities and allow Building Captains and Floor Managers to come together to ask questions and discuss any issues they have had.
This annual training is provided to university housing community advisers for dormitory safety. Training covers:
- Incident reporting
- Fire evacuations
- Fire extinguisher use and checks
- AED training
- Hazard identification
Confined space training is required for anyone who needs to work in a confined space. This yearly training will teach employees:
- To identify confined spaces
- What constitutes a permit confined space
- How to sample confined spaces for toxic gases or low oxygen levels
- Requirements for entering a confined space
- The safety procedures and permitting needed for working within a confined space
Workplaces are considered “confined” if their confined if their configuration can hinder the activities (and escape) of employees who must enter and work within them. Confined spaces include, but are not limited to, underground vaults, tanks, storage bins, manholes, pits, silos, process vessels, and pipelines.
Fire extinguisher training is offered in the spring and fall to all employees at EWU. Refresher training is required annually according to WAC 296-800-30025.
This training is usually combined with AED Training.
This Hearing Loss Prevention Program is designed to protect employees from the effects of exposure to excessive noise at EWU and comply with the Hearing Loss Prevention Standard, Chapter 296-817 WAC. For questions regarding noise, hearing protection, audiometric testing, or other aspects of this program, please Contact Us at EH&S (x6496).
Baseline audiometric examinations are required for all employees whose work involves noise exposure greater than or equal to 85 dBA averaged over an eight hour period. All employees subject to this level of noise will be provided hearing protection to be worn during their job.
Audiometric exams are required annually as long as the employee continues to be exposed to high noise levels. If the annual audiogram indicates the employee has hearing loss, a follow-up test will be conducted within 30 days ensure hearing loss is real and not a pre-test or test related issue.
(Loud noises should be avoided for several hours before the audiometric exam, this includes loud music in the car.)
This training is required every spring to employees who will be working outside during the summer months and their supervisors. This training is mandated by WAC 296-62-095 as part of the Outdoor Heat Exposure Program.
The training is designed to make sure everyone who works in the heat:
- Is aware of the dangers associated with heat-related illnesses
- Can recognize the symptoms of heat-related illnesses in themselves and their coworkers
- Knows what to do to help prevent heat-related illnesses from occurring
- Knows what to do if a heat-related illness does occur
Hazard Communication or HAZCOM is the “right to know” program regarding hazardous chemicals. Everyone has the right and responsibility to be aware of the safe work procedures for chemicals used in their area.
This training is for Eastern Washington University (EWU) personnel who work with chemicals in performance of their job duties. Chemicals may pose a threat to human health or the environment if not used properly and employees have the right to know and understand the hazardous chemicals they use and how to work with them safely.
This training is designed to comply with WAC 296-901
This training is typically combined with Hazardous Waste Management for faculty.
EWU personnel who generate hazardous waste need to be trained on how to identify, store, safely handle, and dispose of hazardous chemical waste in accordance with the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) federal regulations, the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 296-843, “Hazardous Waste Operations,” and WAC 173-303, “Dangerous Waste Regulations”.
Hazardous waste training is required annually to ensure that personnel who generate hazardous waste, or manage satellite accumulation areas, are up-to-date on the current regulations.
This training is typically combined with HAZCOM training for faculty.
There are two different types of Laboratory Safety Trainings offered at EWU.
Each department with labs is offered a Faculty and Staff Lab Safety training annually, this training covers concerns that have been identified during lab inspections and Hazard Communication training.
Individual labs can schedule Lab Safety training for their employees and students. These trainings can be modified to specifically address any topics the PI or lab manager would find helpful. This training can be combined with a Bloodborne Pathogen training for labs that work with blood or OPIM.
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) training is offered annually to employees who need to perform servicing or maintenance on equipment or systems that must be carefully isolated from energy sources before work begins. The LOTO standard requires that practices and procedures be used to shutdown equipment, isolate it from energy source(s), and prevent the release of potentially hazardous energy when maintenance and servicing is being performed.
This training covers EWU’s LOTO program and procedures and aids in compliance with WAC 296-803.
More information about LOTO can be found on the Electrical Safety page, and the specific LOTO forms are on the Forms page.
EH&S provides the safety portion of New Employee Orientation to all new employees. It provides new employees with an overview of EWU safety policies and procedures.
If you need New Employee Orientation, contact Human Resources for scheduling.
This training is provided to researchers who work with x-ray units, laser units, and/or UV sources that produce radiation. It covers monitoring of the research environment to detect radiation and how to protect from radiation exposure.
This training complies with WAC 246-228.
Respirator training is offered along with respirator fit testing. Training includes:
- How to put on (don) and take off (doff) your respirator
- Proper cleaning and storage of your respirator
- When respirators should be used
- Information about the type(s) of respirator cartridge(s) you will need for your exposure
Respirator fit testing is required annually for all employees who use a respirator for their job. Employees must bring their respirator(s) to the fit test. The fit test ensures that the respirator(s) is/are still providing appropriate protection to the employee who uses it.
All employees with a respirator are enrolled in the Occupational Medical Monitoring Program (see Occupational Medicine). This is to ensure that the employee can safely use a respirator when needed for their position. This complies with WAC 296-842.
This training is offered to all new supervisors at EWU. This training covers:
- Health & safety regulations and supervisor responsibilities regarding employee health and safety
- How to report incidents and how to perform incident investigations
- How to identify and correct safety hazards in the workplace
This annual training is provided to new laboratory teaching assistants. Training covers:
- General laboratory safety and hazard identification
- Chemical and biological hazards and safety procedures
- Overview of laboratory waste, including hazardous waste safety
- Fire extinguisher training
- Emergency evacuation procedures.
