Responding to Disasters: Training Can Overcome Issues in Disaster Response.

Training can assist in overcoming gaps in disaster response. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Training Program (WTP) funds a network of nonprofit organizations, or grantees, that deliver peer-reviewed safety and health training curricula to workers across a variety of occupational sectors. Grantees' experiences providing training for recovery workers after numerous disasters show the following issues need to be addressed to better protect the safety and health of recovery workers: (1) regulations and guidance documents not sufficient to protect workers; (2) protecting responders' health and safety which is a core value; (3) improving communication between responders and communities to assist in decision-making and guiding safety and health planning; (4) partnerships critical for disaster response; and (5) greater attention to protecting communities disproportionately affected by disasters.