House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In the near future, I will be introducing legislation that would require all natural gas employees working at well sites in Pennsylvania to complete safety and emergency response training. This program is modeled after the successful "Red Hat" training program for underground coal miners in West Virginia.

Under this legislation, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection would develop and administer a training program that would provide for general orientation at a well site, health and safety, emergency response, accident prevention, hazard recognition, and worker and operator rights and responsibilities. This training would be required for all natural gas employees (including subcontractors) working at well sites in Pennsylvania. Individuals wishing to enter the natural gas industry or newly hired employees that have completed the training program would be required to wear a green hard hat while at well sites for one year following the completion of their training, designating them as certified, yet new to the industry. Veteran natural gas workers in Pennsylvania would be required to complete a shortened version of the training as not to disrupt ongoing drilling operations.


The training would be conducted by certified instructors throughout the state, which would give our workforce development efforts a common template from which to operate. This legislation would also allow us to get a better grasp on where the workers in the natural gas industry are coming from in order to determine what efforts are necessary to increase local workforce development to maximize employment opportunities for Pennsylvania residents.

As we have seen in recent news reports regarding fatal natural gas leaks and explosions, well sites are inherently dangerous places to work. Therefore, I believe we must do all we can to help ensure the health and safety of all individuals working at natural gas well sites. Please join me in sponsoring this common sense approach to promote public safety and workforce development in Pennsylvania.