WEST VALLEY, N.Y. - EM and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project recently held unannounced safety exercises for employees using a fire extinguisher training simulator.
Representatives from CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley’s (CHBWV) training and emergency management departments drove around the site asking employees to participate in a simulated fire scenario at random. Workers described actions they would take in the event of a fire, using the simulator to extinguish a vehicle fire.
“The use of the simulator gives practical hands-on training to our workforce versus the traditional methods of videos and discussion-based training," said Kevin Murray, CHBWV’s emergency preparedness manager and captain of the West Valley Volunteer Hose Company.
The employees tested their knowledge and abilities gained from general employee training, daily safety sharing, mentoring, and required reading.
“In emergency situations, you always fall back to your training," Murray said. “Now these employees have training that they can fall back on and hopefully will be better prepared to deal with an emergency situation. In the end, training is all about learning, practicing, and applying."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
