Model Education Curricula and Toolkit for the Transportation of Hazardous Materials (2013)

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CHAPTER 3 ELEMENTS OF THE MODEL CURRICULA RESEARCH PROCESS The focus of this stage of the research was to identify and describe the elements that should be included in model curricula for the transportation of hazardous materials for the post-secondary education community. The word “curricula” associated with this task suggests that hazmat education is needed in more than one discipline area. The project defined “curricula elements” to be the topics that should be included in each such program area. The crux of this task therefore became one of identifying and describing these curricula elements. The outcome of this work essentially drove the rest of the project, as it specified both curricula content and intended audiences. The following activities were undertaken: • Identify and describe hazmat topics • Identify and describe the hazmat stakeholders who require education • Specify the learning outcomes for each topic for each stakeholder group • Prepare draft curricula materials for stakeholder review The results achieved are discussed in the following sections. HAZMAT TOPICS A systematic review was conducted of the potential curricula topics defined in the original research proposal and the results of the aforementioned literature review. This led to revisions in the curricula topics, in both breadth and depth of coverage. The topic list was further refined as available educational materials were reviewed in detail. The resulting list of topics, given below, was used as the basis for both identifying gaps in the available materials and developing draft curricula content for subsequent stakeholder review. 1. Introduction to Hazmat Transportation a. Hazardous materials and societal needs b. Hazmat transportation logistics c. Hazmat legal and regulatory environment d. Risk management e. Hazmat transportation incident management f. Security of hazmat transportation shipments 2. Hazmat Transportation Logistics a. U.S. freight transportation infrastructure, vehicles and equipment b. Hazmat shipment classifications, modes and commodity flows c. Hazmat shipment supply chain processes d. Management and operational issues 32

3. Hazmat Legal and Regulatory Environment a. Hazmat transportation regulatory context b. Overview of legal and regulatory process c. Hazmat legislation and regulations d. USDOT and applicable international regulations e. Compliance and enforcement f. Other regulatory requirements, standards, and guidelines g. Issues involving multiple/overlapping regulations 4. Hazmat Mode and Route Selection a. Factors affecting mode choice b. Route selection factors c. Highway hazmat routing regulations d. Railroad hazmat routing practices e. Differences in highway and rail routing of hazmat f. Different approaches in applying routing criteria g. Community activism 5. Hazmat Risk Management a. Hazmat transportation case study examples b. Overview of hazmat transportation incident statistics c. Overview of risk management techniques d. Risk communication and management tools e. Risk management for hazmat transportation 6. Hazmat Transportation Incident Management a. Introduction and overview b. National standards, guidelines, and resources c. Incident response and stakeholder roles d. Brief look at scene management e. Reporting, after-action reviews, and recovery f. Consequences of hazmat transportation incidents and incident management 7. Security of Hazmat Transportation Shipments a. Transportation system security concepts b. Regulatory requirements for hazmat shipment security c. Motor carrier security d. Rail security e. Maritime security f. Air cargo security g. Pipeline security h. Security related to international trade 33

HAZMAT STAKEHOLDERS It is important to consider the various constituencies, or prospective students, who could benefit from exposure to the curricula topics. Hence a companion research activity was to identify these groups. The research team used the information sources gathered in the literature review to formulate a comprehensive list of hazmat transportation stakeholders. They are listed in Table 7 and are defined as follows: • Shippers – Suppliers, recipients and users of raw materials and/or finished products that contain hazardous materials; participants in the packaging, loading and unloading of hazardous materials for shipment. • Carriers – Transporters of hazardous materials from the shipment origin to its destination. Includes truck, rail, marine, pipeline and air movements. • Distributor/warehouser/terminal operator – Stakeholders involved in the storage or transfer of a hazardous materials shipment. • International freight forwarder/carrier/broker – Coordinate the import and export of shipments that contain hazardous materials as defined by various countries and international organizations. • Policymakers (elected/appointed officials) – Persons with the authority to address public issues and establish policies that govern hazardous materials transportation practices. • Infrastructure providers and operators – Agencies that have the responsibility for constructing, maintaining, and managing the freight transportation network utilized to haul hazardous material cargo. • Regulators –Transform policies into standards that dictate how industry sectors involved with hazardous materials must manage and operate. • Transportation security – Ensure that hazardous materials shipments are sufficiently protected from harm during the transport operation. • Compliance and enforcement – Ensure that hazardous materials transportation operators are complying with appropriate rules and regulations. • Community planners/economic developers – Developers and implementers of land use and infrastructure plans to support community growth and economic viability. • Emergency responders – Provide emergency, on-the-scene response to a hazardous materials transportation incident. 34

Table 7. List of Hazmat Transportation Stakeholders Private Sector (Executives & Operations Managers) 1. Shippers (raw materials and finished products) 2. Carriers 3. Distributor/warehouser/terminal operator 4. International freight forwarder/carrier/broker Public Sector (Federal, State & Local Officials) 1. Policymakers (elected/appointed officials) 2. Infrastructure providers and operators 3. Regulators 4. Transportation security 5. Compliance and enforcement 6. Community planners/economic developers 7. Emergency responders 8. Emergency managers Other Stakeholders 1. Educators 2. Trainers 3. Researchers 4. Consultants 5. Citizen groups 6. Media 35

• Emergency managers – Develop and implement strategic plans and processes to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from hazardous materials transport incidents. • Educators – Impart the knowledge, skills and experience to help students learn about the various aspects of hazardous materials transportation that will better prepare them for career development in a related field. • Trainers – Provide formal instruction on how to conduct hazardous materials transport safely and respond to incidents within the current regulations and standards. • Researchers – Pursue solutions to timely and critical problems that the industry is trying to better understand. • Consultants – Offer guidance to organizations on how to improve the effectiveness of their hazardous materials transportation activities. • Citizen groups –Organizations representing public interests and seeking a voice in how hazardous materials transportation activities are performed. • Media – Disseminators of information through a variety of communication channels to inform the public or specific stakeholder groups. The distinction in Table 7 between “public” and “private” is made to emphasize the important differences in perspective, but some overlap needs to be recognized. Certain public agencies are also shippers and even carriers of hazardous materials. Likewise, some private companies are responsible for aspects of infrastructure, security, economic development, emergency response and emergency management. LEARNING OUTCOMES An assessment of how much emphasis and depth of coverage each topic should receive for each of the stakeholder groups was compiled. The team considered what would be desirable depth of coverage for managers and executives already working in some aspect of hazmat transportation, and also what should be included in higher education programs designed to prepare students for those types of professional positions. The assessment focused on whether a particular audience should receive high, medium, or low level of subject matter exposure, respectively, of a curriculum topic. Statements of educational outcomes were subsequently developed that guided the preparation of the model curricula content. DRAFT POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION CURRICULA The objective of this effort was to produce a draft version of the proposed hazmat transportation post-secondary education curricula. The curricula were developed in sufficient detail to permit meaningful exposition and discussion at the peer exchange workshop discussed in chapter five. 36

Development of post-secondary education curricula that address the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for transportation of hazardous materials must take into consideration existing knowledge of students, multiple types of learners, the level of knowledge sought for each key concept, and use of assessment techniques to evaluate learner understanding. The team’s goal was to develop an active learning platform for the hazardous materials transportation curricula which includes various educational content levels and uses multiple formats to engage different learner types. The draft model curricula were to include both content and delivery mechanisms and aids. The initial effort was to develop an instructional module for each of the seven main topics listed above, following the outline indicted by the subtopics. The instructional modules could then be packaged into several curricula, each with a syllabus. The content of each module was drawn primarily from the resource materials that were identified during the literature review. Module development was also informed by the gap analysis discussed in the next chapter. The draft material was developed at a depth deemed suitable for university-level instruction. For each curricular module, the research team worked on developing the following draft items: • Title • Learning outcomes • References • PowerPoint slides • Lecture notes describing further the information to be conveyed by each slide • In-class exercises • Out-of-class assignments • Supporting materials (references, case studies) • Proficiency tests (quizzes, examinations) The project time schedule called for submittal of the draft curricula near the mid-point of the project timeline. This meant that priority was placed on developing curricular source materials and producing the learning outcomes, lesson plans and PowerPoint slides. The results of this effort constituted the draft version of the basic set of curricula materials. 37