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Waste & RecyclingClothing wetted with a hazardous substance
If clothing that is not impermeable gets wet with a hazardous substance, it comes off at once and you go to the shower. The clothing is disposed of or decontaminated before it leaves the work zone. It follows paragraphs (k)(5)(ii), (k)(8) and (n)(7) of the federal HAZWOPER rule.
Free to startScenarios
- A splash soaks your coveralls in the hot zone.
- The decontamination procedure calls for regular showers and change rooms outside the contaminated area.
- Temperature conditions on the site prevent the effective use of water.
- A clean-up that will take six months or more, with showers and change rooms for everyone exposed.
The steps
- Notice when clothing that is not impermeable gets wetted with a hazardous substance.
- Take that clothing off immediately.
- Go to the shower.
- Leave the clothing in the work zone to be disposed of or decontaminated before it is taken out.
- Use the showers and change rooms outside the contaminated area when the decontamination procedure calls for them.
- Where temperature conditions prevent the effective use of water, use the other effective means of cleansing provided.
- In the change rooms, keep work clothing and protective equipment in the area with the exit to the worksite, and street clothing in the clean area with the exit off the worksite; the showers separate the two.
- Where showers and change rooms are provided for a long clean-up, shower at the end of each work shift and when leaving the site.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Wetted clothing never stays on.
- Unauthorized employees do not take protective clothing or equipment out of the change rooms.
To pass
- The wetted clothing is disposed of or decontaminated before it is removed from the work zone.
- Showers and change rooms meet 29 CFR 1910.141 and stand where exposures are below the limits, or get air supplied below them.
- On clean-ups of six months or more, showers and change rooms for every employee exposed to hazardous substances.
Official source
Federal · OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.120 (HAZWOPER)
29 CFR 1910.120, Hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER)
GovInfo publishes 29 CFR 1910.120 free: paragraph (k)(5)(ii) sets what happens to wetted clothing and (n)(7) the showers and change rooms.
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