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Waste & RecyclingKeeping contact with the waste to a minimum
The site has standard operating procedures that keep your contact with hazardous substances, and with equipment that touched them, to a minimum. Engineering controls and work practices come first, with protective equipment when they are not enough, and drums are handled so they move as little as possible. It follows paragraphs (k)(2)(ii), (g)(1) and (j)(1) of the federal HAZWOPER rule.
Free to startScenarios
- Drums are being opened, and workers who are not needed stay out of the possible exposure.
- A dusty operation is wetted down.
- A drum cannot be inspected where it is because it is buried or stacked behind others.
- A drum has no label.
The steps
- Follow the site's standard operating procedures that minimize contact with hazardous substances and with equipment that has contacted them.
- Use the engineering controls on the site, such as pressurized cabs or control booths on equipment, or remotely operated material handling equipment.
- Work upwind of possible hazards.
- Wet down dusty operations.
- If you are not needed while drums are opened, stay out of the potential exposure.
- Before a drum or container is moved, inspect it and make sure of its integrity when practical; if it cannot be inspected where it is, move it to an accessible place and inspect it before handling it further.
- Treat a drum or container without a label as holding hazardous substances until its contents are identified and labeled.
- Move drums and containers as little as possible, and warn everyone exposed to the transfer of the hazards of the contents before moving them.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Rotating workers is not a way to meet exposure limits, except for ionizing radiation when there is no other feasible way.
- Engineering controls and work practices come first; protective equipment is added when they are not feasible or not enough.
To pass
- Exposure kept at or below the permissible exposure limits, or the published exposure levels where there is no limit.
- Salvage drums or containers and enough absorbent are kept on hand and used where spills, leaks or ruptures may occur.
- Site operations are organized so drums and containers move as little as possible.
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: paragraphs (g) and (k) set the controls that minimize contact and paragraph (j) the handling of drums and containers.
Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by OSHA, NIOSH, EPA or any HAZWOPER training provider. Agency and rule names are named only to describe the content.