StarKist employees undergo rescue training

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — StarKist employees got tested on their response to a chemical exposure during a weeklong training at the plant recently. In this scenario, employees help to bring a coworker down from a second story building where he had been working in a confined space and played the part of an employee exposed to a chemical released from a broken pipe.

StarKist employees involved in first response, handling of hazardous wastes and clean up, among other areas, undergo annual Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard HAZWOPER training, an OSHA requirement that aims to reduce the risk of injury and illness related to harmful exposures on the worksite.

The training was conducted by HAZWOPER instructor Rep. Luaitaua Gene Pan, who worked for 17 years in StarKist’s Safety Department.