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 Often, the containers and materials inside of them can become contaminated, out-of-date, damaged, or unneeded, and must be disposed of following the procedures set forth by the government.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.
A Quick Guide for Industrial and Manufacturing Facilities By Keina Jennings, CEO/CFO, SEA
By Don Harkness, East Coast Regional Manager, SEA Ladder Inspection Safety At-A-Glance Ladders of all types are useful in the workplace. They are tools that allow workers to safely reach another level. Working at elevated levels poses plenty of risks, ones that have been covered in many regulatory training courses you have attended. Walking, Working Surfaces and Fall protection all focus heavily on the different hazards, of which SEA would be honored to share with you, but today, I want to focus on what needs to happen prior to using the ladder. The Right Tool for the Job And make no mistake, ladders are tools, and only perform as well as we, the operators, allow them to. So, what do we need to consider when picking the right ladder for our job? Several key factors include, but aren’t limited to: What are we doing? What style do you need? Step Ladders, extension ladders, and platform ladders all serve different purposes! What is the weight limit of my ladder? Note that the weight limit includes you and all the tools/equipment you are wearing, including fall protection! What height do I need my ladder to be? Ladders come in all shapes and sizes, so ensure you pick one that allows you to not put yourself at risk, even if it takes a little extra time to go and get it! What material should my ladder be made of? Most ladders are fiberglass but also come in several other materials. Make sure you plan for the task and don’t pick a metal ladder when working with electricity, for example The Most Important Step After choosing the ladder for our task, we need to perform an all-around inspection of the ladder. How often do we need to perform this inspection? Does it need to be documented? Ladders must be inspected before every use to ensure that no damage has occurred. As far as documentation goes, it is required that a documented inspection occur once a year, but your company policy can dictate more frequent documented inspections.
By Alison Jennings, VP Operations, SEA Sometimes it takes a real-life moment to remind us how quickly routine tasks can turn into injuries. Recently, I had a reminder of just how quickly something simple can turn into an injury. I was hanging a picture frame at home. Nothing complicated—just one of those quick projects you knock out in a few minutes. I picked the frame up by the sides to move it into position. As I lifted it, the bottom of the frame suddenly gave out. The glass dropped straight down and landed directly on the top of my bare foot. Within seconds, what started as a simple task turned into a trip to urgent care. The cut was deep enough that I ended up needing eight stitches. Looking back, there were a few things I didn’t think about in that moment. I was barefoot. I didn’t consider the possibility that the frame might break. I didn’t think about what could happen if the glass slipped or fell. It really wasn’t a dangerous job. I wasn’t using power tools or heavy equipment. I was just hanging a picture. But that’s the reality of many injuries—they don’t happen during obviously dangerous activities. They happen during everyday tasks when we assume nothing will go wrong.