Hazmat Ops

[Wentz34]

Hello, I am looking to get my hazmat ops cert, i have done some searching and the state academy isnt offering it and state fire school at BG has the program but is not offering it for the May classes, I was wondering if anyone knew of a place to get it or anyplaces that are offering it?
ps, is there a prereq or can you go straight to ops?
pss, i have taken a hazmat class in school, it was a standard class but offered no state certs, is there a way to challenge the test?

Thanks very much

[ap2823]

i think you need awareness first but not sure

[Epinephrine]

There is no "HazMat Cert" through the state of Ohio, you ability to practice as a Tech, or at an Ops level is done by your individual department(s) and/or County HazMat team.

All the HazMat courses should certify you to the OSHA HAZWOPER standard, with the NFPA standard dropping one level from OSHA (ie 40hr is an OSHA Specialist, but an NFPA Technician Level, and 24hr is an OSHA Technician, but only an Operations level for NFPA).

If you take the HazMat course from an accredited agency, it should be completely free for you (as long as you are a member of a fire department) through a PUCO grant.

As far as where to take it... depending where in the state you are look at your local community college, I know Cincinnati State in the South, and Cleveland State up North all frequently put on HazMat classes. There are no prerequisites to any OSHA HazMat classes, until you start getting to the NFPA Specialist training (rail car specialist, WMD specialist, etc...) which will require you to have completed the OSHA 40hr course.

Hope that helps... good luck!