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After a tiring day of travel and a walk from the stay to the office at 8degree temperature I was looking forward towards my first batch in Saudi. It was based on a very important concept i.e. HAZWOPERM (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Management).

HAZWOPERM course has been a terminology coined by OSHA and is in effect one of the most eminent standards that regulates the safety and health of the employees involved in clean-up operations at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites, employees engaged in certain hazardous waste sites, employees engaged in certain hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) operations, and in any emergency response activities involving hazardous substances. In short, HAZWOPERM applies to hazardous waste facilities.

The candidates were all from the same company called as Vinnell Arabia. Vinnell Arabia is an international corporation based in Saudi Arabia dedicated to providing the best in military training, logistics and support to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of the National Guard (MNG). The candidates who came work for the logistic department in the company. They deal with the storage and transportation of hazardous materials.

DAY 1:

The session started with a basic introduction of the candidates. The day started with a basic introduction to the topic, then once the candidates were familiar with the topic we moved on to discussing the various hazards with respect to waste management and disposal. At 11am the candidates were given a 10mins break to refresh themselves. After the break we moved on to the communication of hazardous materials and the various methods of methods of entry of hazardous materials.

After which we took a 1hr lunch break. The students were surprised that lunch was provided to them and they were very thankful for the same. Once we had lunch we moved on to discuss toxicology, a very in-depth discussion was carried out on the various types of toxic substances and the various effects they will have on the human body. To make sure the candidates understood the topics handled in class a small verbal quiz was conducted and the candidates did perform well in the same. After a full day of back to back discussions of various topics we decided to call it a day. We the clarified a few doubts and with relation to the topics a case study was given to the students to prepare for submission on the next day. The topic was on the Bhopal gas tragedy.

DAY 2:

The second day started of with a big surprise where the candidates brought us food in return for supplying them with a hearty lunch the previous day. After we had a small snack we moved on to the class. The first topic of the day was a very common and most used on, it was PPEs. Candidates were very eager to put forward their taughts with regards to the same.

Once we discussed about the use of PPEs we moved on to the responding to emergency release of hazardous substances. This topic was mainly supported with videos as it is a practical concept. The candidates showed great interest towards the videos and had a lot of interesting doubts regarding the various procedures. After this we had a 1hr lunch break. After lunch we discussed a particular case study with reference to confined space entry. Then to top it all off we ended the session with the pollution prevention and waste minimization. This conclude the session. We had a small verbal quiz session and a question and answer session. Photos were taken and a feed back was receive from the candidates. With this we concluded the training for this batch.

The candidates were eager to learn and showed great interest towards practical application towards the various topics discussed. It was also a very good experience for me as there were a few experienced candidates who did share their valuable information on a number of topics. These discussions did keep the class lively.