WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT CHEMICALS IN YOUR FACILITY: HAZARDOUS MATERIALS MANAGEMENT MIGHT BE REQUIRED
Chemicals and hazardous waste materials are common in many work places. Laboratories, schools, warehouses, factories, medical facilities, and many other establishments have chemicals present, and the containers used to store them are standardized by various regulatory agencies. Often, the containers and materials inside of them can become contaminated, out-of-date, damaged, or unneeded, and must be disposed of following the procedures set forth by the government.
Disposal of hazardous waste and lab decommissioning is regulated by many government agencies and must be completed by a certified specialist familiar with proper federally mandated policies. The SEA Safety Management Systems personnel are HAZWOPER and HAZMAT certified in hazardous materials management and know the laws related to safely,
and efficiently disposing of all hazardous chemicals. In fact, the Little Rock training facility teaches courses to help businesses meet OSHA, EPA, and other government regulatory standards.
Chemicals
Even if your business is not a laboratory full of obvious chemicals, over time your facility may end up with as many small containers (usually less than 10 gallons each) that contained chemicals or hazardous materials as those in a lab setting. Depending on your business or facility, there may be a wide variety of hazardous chemicals that require disposal including: paint, thinners, strippers, cleaners, acids, bases, solvents, and compounds for dry cleaning or pool cleaning.
In public school chemistry labs, commonly used chemicals such as picric acid become explosive as they age, and can cause an explosion just from the friction of opening the lid. Fire hazards are a problem for stored solvents such as Acetone, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Xylene, Ether and Toluene which are extremely flammable. A certified hazardous materials management team, like SEA’s, is required to properly categorize, pack, transport, and dispose of these chemicals within EPA, OSHA, and DOT regulatory guidelines.
Hazards
You might not be aware of the very common chemicals that are categorized as hazardous wastes after they have been used. Cleaning solutions, aerosol cans of paint, and degreasers might fall within the government’s “hazardous waste” category and require proper disposal, which can be executed by a certified hazardous materials management team.
With an our on-staff chemist, the professionals at SEA Safety Management Systems understand how compounds and chemicals behave. For the benefit of everyone’s health and safety, our specialists have successfully completed over 3,500 lab-packing projects for general industry, construction, and government agencies.
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SEA Safety Management Systems recently acquired SEA, Inc. to expand and enhance their environmental regulatory training services. The health and safety training programs, hazardous materials management, and environmental services provided by SEA, Inc. and SEA Safety Management Systems help you in safety compliance, productivity, and overall cost savings. Contact us online today or call us toll free at 888-627-8740 for more information on any of our business-essential services.
What is HAZCOM 2025?
California Tightens Lead Exposure Limits: What Employers Need to Know
Each year, as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) releases its list of the top 10 workplace safety violations, a pattern emerges that begs a question: Are these frequent violations a sign that employers continue to struggle with the same safety issues, or does it reflect a disposition among OSHA inspectors to focus on areas where they are trained to focus? The Persistent Issue of Repeated Findings The repetition of certain violations year after year might seem surprising, but it underscores a significant challenge in workplace safety management. The top violations tend to be those that are most visible and easiest to spot during inspections, such as fall protection and hazard communication. This consistency suggests that while awareness is high, practical implementation and adherence to safety practices lag behind. Top 10 Most Cited Health and Safety Standards of 2024 1. . Fall Protection, General Requirements: 6,307 violations For the 14th consecutive year, fall protection tops the list of OSHA's enforcement priorities. This emphasis is not arbitrary; OSHA has designated fall protection as a national emphasis area, making it a primary focus during inspections. It's often one of the easiest violations to spot without extensive investigation skills. The OSHA standard 1926.501 mandates that employers must provide fall protection systems like guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems for workers at risk of falls of six feet or more in construction and four feet in general industry. Often, the major factor in these violations is human behavior. Many offenders might think, "No one is watching, and this will only take a moment, so it's no big deal." However, this mindset can lead to non-compliance with critical safety measures, putting worker safety at significant risk.