Development of an Evaluation Methodology for Hazardous Waste Training Programs
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Air Force Institute of Technology AFIT Scholar Theses and Dissertations Student Graduate Works 3-16-2006 Development of an Evaluation Methodology for hazardous Waste Training Programs Ryan A. Crowley Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.afit.edu/etd Part of the Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Commons Recommended Citation Crowley, Ryan A., "Development of an Evaluation Methodology for hazardous Waste Training Programs" (2006). Theses and Dissertations. 3333. https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/3333 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Graduate Works at AFIT Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AFIT Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEVELOPMENT OF AN EVALUATION METHODOLOGY FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE TRAINING PROGRAMS THESIS Ryan A. Crowley, Captain, USAF AFIT/GEM/ENV/06M-03 DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE AIR UNIVERSITY AIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the United States Government. 1 AFIT/GEM/ENV/06M-03 DEVELOPMENT OF AN EVALUATION METHODOLOGY FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE TRAINING PROGRAMS THESIS Presented to the Faculty Department of Systems and Engineering Management Graduate School of Engineering and Management Air Force Institute of Technology Air University Air Education and Training Command In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering Management Ryan A. Crowley, BS, MBA Captain, USAF March 2006 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED. 2 AFIT/GEM/ENV/06M-03 DEVELOPMENT OF AN EVALUATION METHODOLOGY FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE TRAINING PROGRAMS Ryan A. Crowley, BS, MBA Captain, USAF Approved: /signed/ ____________________________________ 16 Mar 2006 Alfred E. Thal, Jr., PhD (Chairman) date /signed/ ____________________________________ 16 Mar 2006 Samuel A. Wright, PhD (Member) date /signed/ ____________________________________ 16 Mar 2006 Edward A. Hess, MS, MSChE (Member) date AFIT/GEM/ENV/06M-03 Abstract The purpose of this research was to develop a methodology to measure hazardous waste training programs. The Air Force Material Command (AFMC) hazardous waste training program was used to conduct this research. To measure the effectiveness of AFMC’s hazardous waste training program, the research attempted to answer four research questions. These questions addressed correlations between hazardous waste training programs and ECAMP findings, the understanding personnel have of hazardous waste principles and concepts, the effectiveness of hazardous waste training courses, and how personnel feel about the hazardous waste training they are receiving. In addition, the research consisted of a web-based survey to test the knowledge of AFMC personnel, and measure their attitudes, in the hazardous waste program. The results indicate that there are significant differences in hazardous waste knowledge of personnel in AFMC. Several demographic populations have a higher and lower understanding of basic hazardous waste principles and concepts. Furthermore, several hazardous waste training courses can be attributed to greater and lesser understanding of hazardous waste principles and concepts. Overall, these results suggest what is and is not working in the hazardous waste training program of AFMC. iv Acknowledgments I would like thank my mom and dad for their continued support throughout each chapter of my Air Force career. Without their continued guidance and encouragement through this and each of my endeavors, I would not have been as successful as I have been. I am also very appreciative of the support and guidance my thesis committee has given me. I would like to thank Dr. Al Thal, my advisor, for his encouragement and professional assistance throughout every step of the research, his direction was instrumental. Major Samuel Wright’s expertise was invaluable and I thank him for answering my many questions. Thank you to Mr. Ed Hess for his advice early on in the thesis process support, his recommendations were very influential. I would also like to thank Mr. Tony Negri and Ms. Connie Strobbe for their assistance in generating the survey, their support is truly appreciated. Lastly, I would like to thank my sponsor Dave Fort for taking his valuable time to educate me about hazardous waste and working with me throughout the research process. v Table of Contents Page Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………….v Table of Contents...............................................................................................................vi List of Figures..................................................................................................................viii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix 1. Introduction..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background.............................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Problem Statement and Research Questions............................................................ 5 1.3. Methodology............................................................................................................ 6 1.4. Relevance................................................................................................................. 7 1.5. Thesis Overview ...................................................................................................... 7 2. Literature Review...........................................................................................................8 2.1. Background......................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Environmental Laws......................................................................................... 14 2.3. Other Government Guidance ............................................................................ 23 2.4. Hazardous Waste Operations in the Air Force ................................................. 25 2.5. Training Program Evaluation............................................................................ 30 3. Methodology................................................................................................................ 36 3.1. Data Collection................................................................................................. 36 3.2. Survey ............................................................................................................... 37 3.3. Analysis............................................................................................................. 42 4. Results and Discussion ................................................................................................ 46 4.1. Descriptive Statistics......................................................................................... 46 4.2. Linear Regression............................................................................................. 52 4.3. ANOVA ............................................................................................................ 57 4.4. Attitudinal Questions........................................................................................ 85 4.5. Additional Analysis.......................................................................................... 89 4.6. Additional Comments ....................................................................................... 91 5. Conclusions................................................................................................................... 92 5.1. Research Questions........................................................................................... 92 vi Page 5.2. Summary........................................................................................................... 95 5.3. Limitations ........................................................................................................ 96 5.4. Future Research................................................................................................ 97 Appendix A. External ECAMP Findings, Fiscal Year 2001-2005.................................. 98 Appendix B. Hazardous Waste Knowledge Survey ...................................................... 109 Appendix C. Training Course List................................................................................. 123 Appendix D. Normal Probability Plot ........................................................................... 124 Appendix E. Statistics on Individual Questions ............................................................ 125 Appendix F. Independent Variables for Regression Models......................................... 126 Appendix G. Results from Regression Models.............................................................. 127 Appendix H. Results from Insignificant ANOVA Test................................................. 130 Appendix I. List of Other Types of Training................................................................