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Waste & RecyclingNever alone: working under the buddy system
In the hot zone you work in a group organized so that each worker is designated to be observed by at least one other. Its purpose is rapid help in an emergency; with the site communications and the emergency alert, it is part of site control. It follows the definition in paragraph (a)(3) and paragraph (d)(3) of the federal HAZWOPER rule.
Free to startScenarios
- A routine task in the hot zone, in protective gear.
- Talking is hard through respiratory protection, and the group uses the communication methods it trained in.
- Your buddy gets into trouble and needs help fast.
The steps
- Be assigned to a work group before you go in.
- Know who is designated to observe you.
- Know whom you are designated to observe.
- Agree on how you communicate, including the methods used while wearing respiratory protection.
- Watch the worker you are designated to observe while you both work.
- Know the site's means of alerting for emergencies.
- If your buddy needs help, give rapid assistance and raise the alert by the site's emergency means.
- Know where the nearest medical assistance is.
Safety rules that stop the station
- No one works in the group without someone designated to observe them.
To pass
- Each worker in the group is observed by at least one other.
- Rapid assistance in an emergency: the purpose of the buddy system.
- The buddy system is part of the site control program, with the site map, the work zones and the site communications.
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 (a)(3) defines the buddy system and paragraph (d)(3) makes it part of site control.
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