Posted on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 @ 02:09 PM
By Bart Nielsen, Environmental Compliance Specialist
Emergency response in the Life Sciences is a critical safety issue. The collection of chemical, biological, and radioactive materials in research facilities can make emergency preparedness a daunting task.
Safety managers must begin by inventorying and evaluating all of the hazardous materials onsite, then identify the what types of hazards the materials pose to employees and the environment. From there, safety managers must develop systems for the facility and its employees to safely and swiftly respsond to any type of emergency. The number one goal is to eliminate or minize harm to employees and the environment from an emergency.
The cleanup is usually one the most difficult aspects of emergency response. Depending on the size and content of the spilled material, employees may need extensive training from qualified trainings to repsond. Also, additional exposure monitoring and personal protective equipment is often required when cleaning up hazardous material spills.
Here’s a story…
If you’ve ever had to clean up elemental mercury you know that it isn’t that easy to contain. On top of that, it poses a significant respiratory hazard so you should be wearing a mask with an air tank (in most cases).
During a routine job I happened upon a scientist trying to dismantle a barometer that was 6 feet tall and full of mercury. Just as I was about to ask him how he planned on removing the mercury he released a pin at the base and out it poured (I estimate ½ gallon).
I’ve never seen such large pools of mercury all over the floor. Needless to say, I had him evacuate the area.
His first response to me was, “I’ll get the mercury spill kit.”
To which I replied, “Even if you had a spill kit for that much mercury, you don’t have the proper protective equipment.”
His response, “I’ll just hold my breath.”
What do you think I said next???
What challenges or additional safety issues have you encountered when cleaning up a hazardous material spill?
Question: Would you like to share an emergency response experience?
Posted on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 @ 11:28 AM
By Denise Hutchins, Executive Director of Life Sciences
So you have an emergency response contractor ready to deploy to your site in case of an emergency. Or do you?
With the constant changes occurring around us every day, you need to have a backup to your backups. If you have your own emergency response teams, are they ready to respond? Do you have a backup responder?
Being ready, really ready, with two emergency response contracts is the way to position your company. Beyond the contractual piece, facility walkthroughs and plans sharing should also ensue to ensure as smooth as a response as possible.
Do you have a Plan B?
Posted on Fri, Oct 09, 2009 @ 12:55 PM
Gregory Rosinski, Chemist II
Technology is like a pea shot from a straw, the more people that realize how exciting it is the more peas being shot. In years past it was only possible to manage hazardous waste through filing cabinets or floppy disks. With the advance in technology specifically “ADVISE” it is now possible to manage hazardous waste right on the internet.
One of Triumvirate Environmental’s pharmaceutical clients has jumped on board with Advise recently, and found that they can be completely connected to the hazardous waste program onsite while at home sick sipping Theraflu cold medicine. Advise helps to connect all of the collected hazardous waste chemicals entered into a program called “Wasteland” by onsite specialists, and then sends that information to a web based data base known as Advise. This information is then available to clients online from any computer connected to the internet.
The beauty of an Online Hazardous Waste Management program like Advise is the amount of possibilities it gives the client. Advise does more than just manage chemical waste it also will give report upon report to meet the needs of the individual asking for them. While online using Advise it is possible to search through inspections of Main Accumulation Areas (MAAs), Satellite Accumulation Areas (SAAs), and Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBAs). It also gives the ability to see if everything onsite is compliant, and if there should be an area that was non-compliant a flag will be seen with the reason for non-compliance. Advise also allows for personalization of the application to a point. Meaning that if there are reports that do not meet the specific need those reports can then be tailored to help meet the new expectations.
Recently I was involved with a city wide disaster drill at a client’s site. This drill involved over a hundred people, and five different emergency response teams. One of the first questions the contact and I were asked by the fire department chief was how do you guys know what is in the Main Accumulation Area for Hazardous Waste. The answer was simple to the client and I, because we both knew that all waste onsite was managed through Advise. The chief was unfamiliar with the program, but once he learned we could go on his computer in his truck to check the MAA he was greatly intrigued.
Time will only tell where Online Hazardous Waste Management will go, but if it follows the trends of other technology sectors it will be great seeing Advise in the years to come consider how useful of a program it is now.