Page 28 - Occupational Health & Safety, March 2017

IH/HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Staying on Top of Hazmat Training Requirements
The key standard for working with hazardous chemicals is 29 CFR 1910.1200, the revised Hazard Communication Standard, which has been aligned with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals.
BY FRED ELLIOTT
OSHA’s online “Working With Hazardous Materials” page1 is a useful guide to this topic, ranging from hazards encountered by forklift operators who move hazardous
materials to workers handling hazardous chemicals in their workplaces and thus in need of hazard commu- nication training and materials.
The guide covers U.S. Department of Transpor- tation hazmat regulations, which are subdivided by function into four basic areas:
■ Procedures and/or Policies (49 CFR Parts 101, 106, and 107)
■ Material Designations (49 CFR Part 172)
■ Packaging Requirements (49 CFR Parts 173, 178, 179, and 180)
■ Operational Rules (49 CFR Parts 171, 173, 174, 175, 176, and 177)
It also covers the OSHA HAZWOPER (Haz- ardous waste operations and emergency response) Standard, 29 CFR 1910.120, which applies to emer- gency response personnel who respond to a hazmat incident. If the operator of the vehicle moving haz- ardous materials becomes actively involved in an emergency response, then he or she is considered an emergency responder and is covered by 29 CFR 1910.120(q), it notes.
Other OSHA standards relevant to the topic of
safe work with hazardous materials include 29 CFR 1910.134, respiratory protection; 29 CFR 1910.178, powered industrial trucks—it contains sections on storing and handling liquid fuels and storage and handling of liquid petroleum gas—plus, for shipyard employees, 29 CFR 1915 Subpart Z, toxic and hazard- ous substances; and, for construction employers, 29 CFR 1926 Subpart Z, toxic and hazardous substances.
Penalties for hazmat violations, in the United States and abroad, can be significant. On Jan. 3, 2017, a British engineering company was fined £150,000 (about $188,000 in U.S. dollars) for a July 2014 inci- dent where two of its employees were seriously burned while using caustic soda—sodium hydroxide—gran- ules to clean piping. The chemical reacted with water in the piping system, heating up and ultimately caus- ing a hose to detach. Both workers were sprayed with the solution and suffered burns, with one suffering life-threatening burns, investigators from the Health and Safety Executive found. The company had not adequately assessed the job’s risks, secured suitable equipment, or provided adequate personal protec- tive equipment to those employees, according to HSE, which reported that the company pleaded not guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 but was found guilty and fined. No costs were awarded because the company was in liq-
24 Occupational Health & Safety | MARCH 2017
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