Hazardous Materials: Strategies for Safety

Part 1: Identifying Common Hazardous Wastes

Part 2: Complying with OSHA's Hazardous Waste Standards

Part 3: Signage and Labeling Hazardous Materials

Part 4: Hazardous Materials: Proper Storage Strategies

Part 5: Managing Compressed-Gas Cylinders

Part 6: Necessary Supplies for Hazmat Emergencies

Part 7: Hazardous Materials: Focus on Flammables

Necessary Supplies for Hazmat Emergencies

By Jeffery C. Camplin - October 2008 - Material Handling

Managers also must specify supplies and equipment for ensuring worker safety and responding to emergencies, including eye protection, gloves, and chemical aprons where chemicals are present. Dedicated ventilation also might be necessary in areas where operations generate chemical vapors. Maintenance operations also might require respirators when engineering controls, such as ventilation, fail to reduce exposures to permissible levels.

Emergency-response products and equipment should be available during a spill or accident. Employee protection in chemical-use areas requires eyewash stations and safety showers, and chemical spill kits are essential for containing and cleaning accidental releases.

Managers also need to evaluate special fire-protection needs. Equipment in these cases includes fire blankets and special fire extinguishers designed for flammable liquids.

Finally, managers must consider buying proper chemical- and sharps-disposal containers for storing waste generated from cleaning spills.