Dedication for Hehr Memorial HazMat Training Area to be Held

The dedication of the Daniel W. Hehr Memorial HazMat Training Area, located on campus in the Renninger building of The University of Findlay’s All Hazards Training Center, will be held Friday, May 18, at 3 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Hehr was the first full-time faculty member of The University of Findlay’s hazardous materials management program. Arriving in 1988, he helped develop and expand the curriculum, which included associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. He also was instrumental in creating the training scenarios in Renninger for what was first called the Emergency Response Training Center (now The All Hazards Training Center). The training center opened in 1989 to provide workshops and seminars in safety and environmental management, such as instruction in OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations and procedures.

Hehr designed hands-on training exercises in confined space entry and rescue, asbestos removal, drum handling and laboratory chemical removal and disposal. The training area in Renninger continues to operate in the same manner as he planned it, and this area is being dedicated in his memory. In addition to serving as an associate professor of hazardous materials management, he was assistant director of the environmental and hazardous materials management academic program and conducted training courses before becoming assistant director of training services. He retired in 2004. Hehr passed away on March 28, 2012.

The Daniel W. Hehr Memorial ES&H Equipment Fund also has been established to acquire equipment for the education and training of students in the ESOH Program, and to cover other student needs, such as stipends to attend conferences and trade shows.

Since its inception, The All Hazards Training Center has trained more than 160,000 professionals in a wide range of safety, security and environmental management workshops at its two training locations in Findlay and at client sites across the United States.