Environmental Health and Safety Interaction of Hazardous Materials - Case Study Example

 Environmental Health and Safety Interaction of Hazardous Materials Abstract The past decade has seen governments, industries and the general public increasingly become aware of the importance of being knowledgeable on how to respond to hazardous situations. In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was passed by the Congress (Kleiner, Rabinovitz, Weitzman and Wiltshire, 1985). The Act, referred to as the Superfund Law aimed at providing for compensation, emergency response for hazardous materials released to the environment, and cleanup. This documents the guidelines followed by managers charged with the responsibility of occupational safety and health in hazardous environments (Kleiner, Rabinovitz, Weitzman and Wiltshire, 1985). This paper breaks down the activities that a field team leader would undertake in case a spill is reported at a production industry so as to contain the situation and ensure minimal or no damage is accrued. Environmental Health and Safety Interaction of Hazardous Materials Hazardous situations or incidences require a diversity of activities for efficient containment. Key to this is that there should be a single person in command of the whole situation responsible for controlling the activities on the site and establishing objectives and goals at the site/scene (Hazardous Waste, 2007). This allows for the efficient utilization of all the resources available as well as performance of the response in a manner that is organized and well-controlled. In addition, Hazardous Waste (2007) asserts that risks to other members of the team are reduced when there is a defined team leader at the scene. The team leader is in charge of coordinating all the activities at the site. How to Proceed Planning This is an emergency case and requires quick action; thus, the plan should be short and reliable based on the available resources. As a team leader with HazMat, Kleiner, Rabinovitz, Weitzman and Wiltshire (1985) affirm that my responsibility would be to create a workable team since working as a group is beneficial in that: i. It invests more people into the process as well as encouraging participation. ii. Increases time and energy available for the process. iii. It enhances the physique and visibility of the process of planning. iv. It avails varied perspectives of the same issue. Recruitment of the team coordinator/chief engineer of the production department as the first member of the team followed by the production employee who reported the spill as well as the emergency response team members will be my first priority as the team leader (Kleiner, Rabinovitz, Weitzman and Wiltshire, 1985). The role of the production employee is to provide directions of the structure and information about the hazardous materials inside the production site (Incident Command, 2012). The active member of the team is the chief engineer of the production department since he has complete information about the activities that take place in the production site (Hazardous Waste, 2007). Furthermore, the plant manager is to be involved as a team member to help mobilize the 180 employees in the facility and provide us with details of the facility’s other productions and other possible hazardous materials. All these planning activities are conducted at the production office; the preferred incident command center. Types of Information to be Gathered Incident Command (2012) argues that critical information about prevailing capabilities and possible hazards in the production department should be gathered followed by a quick pre-planning analysis of the capabilities of the department to handle emergency situations. i. Hazard identification – enough information should be gathered regarding hazardous materials in the building that have the potential to cause harm to life, environment and/or property. This information is available through the production department manager and the chief engineer. In addition, conduction of quick review of the department’s policies could provide viable information about their products. ii. Vulnerability analysis – this process helps the team leader to gather information regarding the exposure of life, environment and property to harm or damage if the hazardous substance in the plant reaches its maximum potential. iii. Analysis of risks – analyzing the risks of a hazardous spill can help one to determine the probability that harm will be caused to life, environment and property if the substance reaches its maximum potential. iv. Other information required include identification of products and related operations of the plant so as to assess the impact on the site; identification of the plant’s internal and external resources and capabilities, for instance, personnel (fire brigade, medical services, evacuation teams etc.) and equipment (fire protection, communication gadgets, first aid supplies etc). External resources include hospitals, fire department, local emergency management office and hazardous material response group (Incident Command, 2012). Information Gathering Since this is an emergency and it requires quick attention necessary information will be enquired informally from the production plant manager, the chief engineer and the employee who reported the spill. Team Instructions My job as the team leader is to provide instructions, guidelines and specifications to team members regarding what needs to be done and how. My instructions to team members include: i. Warning of employees ii. Communicating with other responders iii. Management of response activities iv. Conducting an evacuation as well as accounting for all the 180 employees in the production plant v. Protect vital organizational records and resources. The Hazard In a spill involving concentrated acids, contact with such substances can lead to severe damage to the human skin and extreme contact can lead to death (Incident Command, 2012). In case the spill involves a strong base, neutralization can lead to dissipation of large amounts of heat which can be dangerous. In case of an oxidizer, contact with organic materials can result to a huge explosion, and burns on the ones cleaning it. Below follows a description of how to handle each of the situations above. It has been noted that the leaking drum is about 55 gallons. According to Occupational Safety (1990) this is a small drum and thus it can be placed inside a larger one to control the leaking and spread of the spill. First and foremost, evacuation of the area is vital due to the known and unknown severity of chemical spills. Another important measure to take is drawing of borderlines of the danger zone to keep people away at least by 30 feet i.e. rope off the spillage site to prevent unnecessary contact by the community responders and other unqualified personnel (Occupational Safety, 1990). This happens for strong acids, strong bases or strong oxidizers. Strong acids can be severe when in contact with hence; make sure that all team members on site should be wearing protective clothes and have necessary equipment to handle the strong acid. The next thing to do is alert the local hazardous spillage group to come and handle the clean-up process. Strong oxidizers are chemical substances that are highly flammable when in contact with organic materials (Occupational Safety, 1990). This facility is full of other chemicals that are highly flammable. Thus, placing of the 55 gallon drum in another larger drum to prevent it from coming in contact with an organic material for instance is a vital. This should be done in protective clothing to prevent contact. In addition, roping off the site is essential so as maximize operations with minimal public disturbance. Contact the local authorities in charge of cleaning up hazardous spills. The neutralization process should be done after evacuating the facility due to large amounts of heat dissipation associated with the process. Furthermore, the power supply should be cut since a little spark can result in a huge flame in presence of an oxidizer. Wear protective clothes to prevent skin damage. With strong bases, Occupational Safety (1990) asserts that the major concern is skin contact since strong bases have corrosive properties. Ensure the material is not touched by roping off the site; wear protective clothing together with a face shield and goggles when touching the material to avoid skin contact; channel the strong base using spill control pillows so as to control the spread of the base for later disposal. Priority/Action List This is the short list of the tasks that are essential to the situation and those that need to be performed: a. Warning of employees b. Communicating with the relevant personnel and other responders from around the community c. Conducting an evacuation as well as accounting for all employees (180) d. Activating and managing an incident command center e. Shutting down all operations at the scene f. Protecting the vital sections/records of the production department g. Restoring operations in the department. Chemical spills are quite dangerous and can lead to dreadful accidents if not well handled by experts. As a result, there is a need to contact the hazardous material response group (external resource) so that they can handle the cleaning process of the strong acid leaking from the drum. Furthermore, evacuation is necessary in this case since there was the danger of flammable material in the other drums (Kleiner, Rabinovitz, Weitzman and Wiltshire, 1985). An accident scene is full of different responders, including the community; this is a group largely unfamiliar with dangers of such substances, and, as a result, my advice to them would be to stay off the scene and such other scenes in future. References Hazardous Waste Management Guide (2007). Environmental health and safety, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. Incident Command: Hazardous material emergency response. Retrieved Nov. 17, 2012 at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_f_o/incident_command_hazardous_material_response.pdf Kleiner, G., Rabinovitz, S., Weitzman, D., & Wiltshire, G. (1985). Occupational safety and health guidance manual for hazardous waste site activities, Jan Connery of Eastern Research Group, Arlington, Massachusetts. Retrieved Nov. 17, 2012 at http://www.osha.gov/Publications/complinks/OSHG-HazWaste/all-in-one.pdf Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (1990). Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response (OSHA 3114). U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC. Read More