Aegis Corporation of Brookfield, Wis. has been playing a role in cleanup of the Gulf oil spill by providing training for those individuals aiding in spill recovery. Nicholas Dillon, Aegis Director of Education & Risk Services, has been working in Mobile, Alabama in recent weeks, providing training for individuals directly involved in cleaning up the oil spill. He is an instructor of Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER). The training aims to protect workers involved in hazardous substance emergency response and cleanup operations.
Mr. Dillon is providing the OSHA training as a consultant with Endure and Corporate Environmental Risk Management (CERM), both compliance and risk management firms. The two companies have been placed in charge of safety services that include recruiting, training and deploying safety monitors. It is these safety monitors that will oversee the employees cleaning up the spill.
Thus far, Mr. Dillon has trained several classes of safety monitors. The class is 40-hours long, with a test at completion of the course. Once attendees pass the course, they receive a certificate of completion in accordance with the requirements under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120. Each participant has then met at least one of the requirements to become a safety monitor, whose role includes overseeing workers involved in the cleanup efforts.
It is the goal of Endure and CERM to continue providing ongoing risk management safety services and Mr. Dillon expects to travel back to Mobile, and Atlanta, Georgia in the upcoming weeks to continue to train workers.
“I believe Aegis Corporation is making a difference to ensure that well qualified individuals are being put in place to oversee the monumental task of cleaning up this oil spill,” said Dillon. “Beyond this project, we are also teaching skills that employees can take to use for other employment opportunities.”
As a part Aegis Corporation’s Loss Control Department, Mr. Dillon is a certified OSHA instructor and regularly provides training courses to Wisconsin’s public and private sector employees. He manages the continuing education function for Aegis Corporation and assists loss control representatives with resource information when it comes to servicing clients.
“At the foundation of this company is our commitment to assist our clients, be it a governmental entity, school district or private business, in managing risk,” said John A. Dirkse, Aegis Corporation Executive Vice President. “Education has always been a number one priority for our clients and we are proud of the role we are playing in putting the right people in place to clean up this environmental disaster in the Gulf.”
Aegis Corporation specializes in the development and implementation of association and alternative-risk financing programs, as well as in providing a full line of business insurance. For more information visit http://www.aegis-corporation.com.
