HAMMER Federal Training Center staff collaborated with Hanford Mission Integration Solutions carpenters, sign painters and metal shop employees to build large puzzle pieces for students to use during respiratory protection training on the Hanford Site.

HAMMER Federal Training Center staff collaborated with Hanford Mission Integration Solutions carpenters, sign painters and metal shop employees to build large puzzle pieces for students to use during respiratory protection training on the Hanford Site.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Richland Operations Office contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) recently revised a respiratory protection course at the Hanford Site’s Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) Federal Training Center. The revision uses a scavenger hunt and large puzzle pieces to offer participants an innovative way to experience the benefits and limitations of respiratory protection equipment.

HAMMER instructors train Hanford workers on a range of skills in a controlled environment to maintain safety. In their latest training, instructors test participants on the respirators by having them work in groups going from room to room on a scavenger hunt to find and solve riddles based on learning objectives before their air bottles empty.

“Hanford’s HAMMER Federal Training Center provides realistic training paired with constant improvements to ensure our workforce has the knowledge and skills to complete work safely,” said Angela Stoddard, EM program manager. “The trainers develop innovative educational methods to provide advanced safety training experiences.”

Trainees at the HAMMER Federal Training Center work through a scavenger hunt activity as part of an update to the center’s respiratory protection training program for the Hanford Site.
Trainees at the HAMMER Federal Training Center work through a scavenger hunt activity as part of an update to the center’s respiratory protection training program for the Hanford Site.
This completed puzzle represents a successful collaboration by participants in respiratory training at the Hanford Site’s HAMMER Federal Training Center.
This completed puzzle represents a successful collaboration by participants in respiratory training at the Hanford Site’s HAMMER Federal Training Center.

Trainers also test respiratory protection proficiency by having trainees complete puzzles while wearing respirators. Using long-reach tools to retrieve puzzle pieces from a small pit, they work together to move and assemble the pieces in another location. To complete the puzzle, participants must communicate and effectively manage their air hoses.

HAMMER has a history of creating unique ways to teach different curricula that help workers retain knowledge and use it in the field. A previous update to a similar course includes an escape room scenario where participants complete challenges before the air in their bottles runs out.

“Using innovative training reinforces learning objectives and provides an opportunity to experience and overcome the equipment limitations, such as communication, mobility and visibility,” said HAMMER Director Paul Vandervert.