Spill Responder Series

Oil spills that enter a watercourse have the potential to cause very serious and widespread damage to the environment. Having an effective response strategy and properly trained response personnel can greatly enhance a company’s response capability and reduce environmental liability.

The Spill Responder Series is intended for individuals who wish to provide accreditation to their employers and/or clients to indicate that they have the most advanced spill response training available in Western Canada.

Upon the completion of the 7 courses, the student will receive certification in Spill Response Management and be recognized by WCSS as an effective contribution to any spill preparedness and response plan in the upstream oil and gas industry.

Each of the following courses include an exam that requires a minimum pass grade of 70%. Where hands-on learning is part of the curriculum, students will be expected to participate in each aspect and demonstrate competent use of the equipment used.

(587) 393-9621

amy.grenier@wcss.ab.ca

All Spill Responder Series courses are designed for anyone working in the following groups:

This one-day awareness level course has been designed to serve as baseline training for the oil and gas industry in Western Canada.  It is recognized by provincial regulators as the minimum recommended level of spill response training for anyone who may be expected to respond to an oil spill.  This includes:

The course provides spill responders with basic practical information that will help them to respond quickly and appropriately to a liquid hydrocarbon spill on both land and water. It consists of the following chapters, each with its own quiz:

A practical application of the concepts learned in Spill Responder 100;  this  2-day course includes half a day in the classroom to review site access and assessment, containment and recovery tactics, wildlife management, storage and waste management, and decontamination considerations.  The other day and a half are spent in the field where students will have the opportunity to deploy equipment at 4 separate stations, giving them the skills that will prepare them to respond to a release on land that has potential to migrate to moving water, or a small water body.  Specific equipment to be discussed and deployed:

Spill response in a water body with an ice sheet provides its own unique challenges.  Students who complete this 1.5-day course will spend a few hours in a classroom setting in the morning reviewing ice science and the behaviour of oil in ice conditions in a lake and moving water environment, in addition to spill preparedness, initial spill response, and a variety of containment and recovery tactics.  The remainder of the training is field-based and hands-on, and will help students to gain experience with:

Responders will learn how to deploy containment and recovery equipment in open water using WCSS jet boats over the course of 2 days. WCSS-certified operators will be provided in each of the boats.

The first half-day is spent in a classroom session, reviewing regulatory interaction expectations, oil effects and behaviours in medium to large lakes and rivers, access challenges and solutions, and navigating various environmental conditions.

The following 1.5 days give students the opportunity to become well-practiced in handling containment and recovery techniques for large stagnant and flowing water bodies. They will work from jet boats and a barge as crew members and discover the value of strong communication skills in an emergency response setting. The equipment used will include:

Offered as a stand-alone course that is supplemental to tactics learned in SR400A, responders will learn how to deploy highly specialized containment and recovery equipment in a large river environment. Students that have graduated from SR400 or SR400A are welcome to register for this training. WCSS-certified operators will be provided in each of the boats. The equipment used will include:

This dynamic two-day course is the final step in the Spill Responder series and is based on the role of the Incident Commander at an oil spill.  The course content will help better to prepare individuals to communicate effectively between the Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) / Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the Incident Command Post (ICP).

This training is intended for:

The training will explore the necessary steps to take in order to bring a spill response from the emergency phase to the operational phase.  Modules included in this training:

Case studies and workshops are included. This is an industry-taught training course, with Subject Matter Experts available to discuss specific details of lessons learned from previous spills.