IICRC Odor Control Technician (OCT)

Sponsors and Course Design:

• The OCT course can either be instructed as a “Private Class” or an “Open Class,” anywhere in the US, Canada, Australia, and other countries where the class can be instructed in English or interpreted in a foreign language.
  • A “Private Class” is one where students or individuals are from the same company, association, or they are sponsor selected.
  • An “Open Class” is one where students or individuals can apply to take the course from the sponsor, where the sponsor agrees to have the class marketed on the IICRC website.
• Minimum costs for instructing an IICRC-OCT approved course through a sponsor is $1,500.00 a day + expenses (USA) or $2,500 a day + expenses (International) per person.

Course is Intended for:

• Our 1-Day OCT course is for everyone (e.g., insurance adjusters, restorers, property managers, industrial and occupational hygienists, building engineers, laboratory technicians, medical doctors, attorneys) who require knowledge about the cause of odors, which are generally related to water, fire, mold, bacteria, chemical, and environmental. Resulting odor problems may be easily detected through the nose, or it may be noticed through eye and skin irritation, coughing or sneezing, or an allergic-like reaction. Other times, real-time sensors or laboratory analysis is required to document the presence of odors, including the chemical makeup of specific compounds. Certain compounds can be toxic to breathe which may require sealing off affected areas or buildings.
• When arriving, students receive a printed black and white manual, a study guide, and an electronic download of a 100 page glossary.

Course General Description:

• The OCT course addresses the psychology and makeup of many odors; understand the difference between pairing and masking agents; how buildings should be assessed from a hazard and risk management prospective; maintain open communication with all responsible parties; recognizing and addressing potential liabilities, including project limitations, complications, and complexities; using properly written contracts; establishing methods and procedures for protecting occupants in occupied buildings verses non-occupied buildings; completing an occupant and responsibly-party interview; documenting current building conditions through project completion; monitoring the health and safety of workers; protecting non-affected environments and contents from affected environments and contents; using third-party professionals, such as industrial hygienists to sample and analyze for known and unknown chemicals and compounds, which are completed for collecting baseline data, during the project data, and post remediation evaluation/verification data; establishing positive and negative pressure differentials to non-affected parts of a building; sealing-off ventilation systems in multi-zoned HVAC systems; using adsorbing/absorbing agents to contain and control odors until cleanup and deodorization process is complete; depending on the contaminate establish work procedures for capturing airborne particles, VOCs, and PAHs, along with removing surface contamination with specialty equipment; completing a triage of contents which are total loss, verse salvageable, and restorable; processes involving cleaning, disinfecting and deodorizing contents and ventilation systems; final cleanup and disinfecting workers and equipment; determining with materially interested parties, the project goals have been met.
• Depending on student questions, the course is open to discussing additional issues such as addressing occupant complaints or concerns; odors caused by fire including protein fires; why do smoldering fires produce more toxic smoke that is harder to remove; odors found in water damaged and moldy structures; noxious odors related to skunks, other rodents, dog and cat urine and feces; dead body malodors and decaying carcass odors; chemical odors found in tear gas; applying lock-down sealers and deodorants; odors detected in shopping centers, office buildings, schools and hospitals, laboratories, to manufacturing and industrial buildings; challenges in cleaning and deodorizing buildings with contents, verse removing and deodorizing contents separately; mitigating odor problems in attics and crawlspaces; using computer-based estimating, and time and material costs.

About Patrick Moffett