Within the course of a week, the Renewable Fuels Association provided ethanol safety training to nearly 600 participants across the United States and in nine other countries around the world.
“We’re thrilled to see this participation in our safety programs,” said RFA Director of Safety and Technical Programs Missy Ruff. “Clearly, there is not only an interest in creating safer environments, but a real need for these programs, and we were happy to be able to offer them in an online webinar format because of the pandemic. While the in-person seminars were also a hit, being online allowed us to reach so many others from around the world. With the support of our sponsors, we will continue this important work into the future.”
On Aug. 12 and 13, two Ethanol Emergency Response webinars reached over 400, with international attendees from Belgium, Canada, Colombia, India, Norway and the Philippines. The goal of these webinars is for attendees to gain a full ethanol and ethanol-blended fuel emergency response training experience that can be used immediately in the field. Future webinar sessions will be held Sept. 15 and 16, Oct. 14 and 15, and Nov. 5 and 12. An onsite ethanol safety seminar will be held on Sept 1-3 in Frederick, MD. Click here for details.
RFA’s Ethanol Emergency Response webinars are funded through a PHMSA ALERT/TRANSCAER grant. TRANSCAER is a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and to respond to a possible hazardous materials transportation incident. Missy Ruff sits on the TRANSCAER Executive Committee and chairs the National TRANSCAER Task Group. PHMSA refers to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
On Aug. 18, the fourth and final “Train the Trainer” webinar in Ethanol Emergency Response took place, training more than 160 attendees, including some from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Peru and Puerto Rico. Funded through a Federal Railroad Administration/TRANSCAER grant “Train the Trainer” webinars are designed to train a group of individuals who can then turn around and pass that information forward, equipping entire communities with the knowledge necessary to respond to any potential ethanol-related emergency.
