These days it is becoming common practice to utilize truck driver(s) of our hazardous material(s) deliveries to do more than just deliver the material. The line of thought in doing this, is that the drivers must be “qualified” or they would not be allowed to transport the hazardous materials. Well, they may be qualified to transport the hazardous materials, but the LOADING and UNLOADING of the materials increases the risk and such DOT have additional requirements we have to meet for these tasks! Here are some items to consider if your facility is thinking of using the drivers or maybe is already doing so.
First let me say up front… I am NOT a DOT Compliance expert. I am just passing on issues that I have experienced in my years as a S&H manager in the chemical industry. As a consultant I have seen a sharp increase in the number of facilities that are using drivers as their “DOT attendants”. This article is written with the mind set that the unloading process falls under PSM/RMP standards, but the information could be applied to all HAZMAT unloading activities.
§ 177.834 General requirements state the following when it comes to loading and unloading a placarded Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) shipment…
(i) Attendance requirements –
(1) Loading. A cargo tank must be attended by a qualified person at all times when it is being loaded. The person who is responsible for loading the cargo tank is also responsible for ensuring that it is so attended.
(2) Unloading. A motor carrier who transports hazardous materials by a cargo tank must ensure that the cargo tank is attended by a qualified person at all times during unloading. However, the carrier’s obligation to ensure attendance during unloading ceases when:
(i) The carrier’s obligation for transporting the materials is fulfilled;
(ii) The cargo tank has been placed upon the consignee’s premises; and
(iii) The motive power has been removed from the cargo tank and removed from the premises.
(3) Except for unloading operations subject to §§177.837(d), 177.840(p), and 177.840(q), a qualified person “attends” the loading or unloading of a cargo tank if, throughout the process, he is alert and is within 7.62 m (25 feet) of the cargo tank. The qualified person attending the unloading of a cargo tank must have an unobstructed view of the cargo tank and delivery hose to the maximum extent practicable during the unloading operation.
(4) A person is “qualified” if he has been made aware of the nature of the hazardous material which is to be loaded or unloaded, he has been instructed on the procedures to be followed in emergencies, he is authorized to move the cargo tank, and he has the means to do so.
Pay particular attention to #4 above. A person is “qualified” to be the attendant when
- he (or she) has been made aware of the nature of the hazardous material which is to be loaded or unloaded,
- he (or she) has been instructed on the procedures to be followed in emergencies”
- Very rarely do we find truck drivers having been trained in emergency procedures for the facility. At the very least, if we are leaving them alone during one of the more hazardous task that takes place on site, we should train them on our Emergency Action Plan (EAP) and the Emergency Shutdown Procedures (ESD). Most facilities would struggle in their ability to account for truck drivers in their headcount procedures, much less expect them to take emergency actions should an incident occur during the unloading. Although, one easy way to handle the accountability gap is to have drivers sign in and sign out at the gate they pass through. The part that gets a bit tricky is just how much training does the driver need on our emergency procedures. Basically they need to be trained in the following:
- how to report a spill/fire/medical emergency – this can be done by radio, plant emergency phone number (as long as there is a phone readily available at the unloading rack), local pull station (i.e. fire alarm), etc. NOTE: be careful using a cell phone if your shipment is a Class 2 or 3 hazardous material (e.g. flammables).
- what the driver is to do if he/she hears a facility emergency alarm (e.g. where to go to get accounted for and how to get there safely using wind socks or other means).
- along with #2, the driver MUST be capable of stopping the unloading process BEFORE he/she leaves the unloading area, so they need to know how to turn the pump off or how to stop the padding agent from pressurizing the tanker and to stop the flow (i.e. just turning off the padding agent may not stop flow since the trailer will remain pressurized). They will know how to close their tanker valve, but knowing how to operate “our process” may be a bit much for some drivers. NOTE: in some cases, the carrier company may have a policy that prohibits the driver from even touching our process equipment (valves, buttons, etc.). We MUST know this in advance as this SINGLE, but BIG limitation, may prevent the use of drivers from that carrier from ever being an attendant.
- if your unloading process can be shutdown with an “emergency shutdown (ESD)” button, this would make things much simpler, but we still have to clearly label the ESD button(s) and these buttons should be strategically located so the driver can be exiting the area when he/she activates the system, as well as being CLEARLY LABELED.
- Very rarely do we find truck drivers having been trained in emergency procedures for the facility. At the very least, if we are leaving them alone during one of the more hazardous task that takes place on site, we should train them on our Emergency Action Plan (EAP) and the Emergency Shutdown Procedures (ESD). Most facilities would struggle in their ability to account for truck drivers in their headcount procedures, much less expect them to take emergency actions should an incident occur during the unloading. Although, one easy way to handle the accountability gap is to have drivers sign in and sign out at the gate they pass through. The part that gets a bit tricky is just how much training does the driver need on our emergency procedures. Basically they need to be trained in the following:
- he (or she) is authorized to move the cargo tank, and has the means to do so
How far should we go in training truck drivers? Do they need to be trained in our Unloading SOP? How about PPE training? Each facility, and even each unloading situation within the same facility, may be different and will need to be evaluated independently to ensure that EACH driver is properly trained and equipped to act as our DOT Attendant.
Enough about training…let’s talk PPE. We routinely work at facilities with excellent PPE programs/procedures, with strict enforcement of these procedures. But when it comes to a truck driver, well… let’s just say there are some opportunities for improvement. For example, if a company employee unloads a hazardous material the PPE required for the task would include flame retardant clothing, FR rated chemical suit over their personal FRC, chemical gloves, chemical boots, face shield, safety glasses, hardhat, and maybe even require a full face respirator be on hand (meaning all the requirements of 1910.134 must be met as well). We turn the same task over to a truck driver and they have on shorts, flip-flops, and a tank-top! Now I am not saying that the carrier’s PPE Hazard Assessment must match our certified PPE Hazard Assessment, but the two PPE Hazard Assessments do need to be close and meet or exceed the MSDS PPE requirements. It seems that Flame Retardant Clothing and FR rated Chemical PPE causes the most issues; but if your facility has a policy requiring FRC to be worn in the area of the unloading rack, that requirement should certainly be met by the individual handling/transferring the material that makes the area a Hazardous Location!?!?!?
Lastly, whoever acts as the “attendant”, they MUST remain within 25’ of the connection AND in line-of-sight of the hose connection. As most of you know, any one of us could walk out to our loading/unloading racks and find this simple requirement not being followed. If it is raining or snowing, I can almost guarantee there will be issues. Now if the trailer being unloaded is being done from the side, being in the cab of the truck MAY meet the attendant requirement. But if the trailer is being unloaded from the rear, it will have to be a VERY short trailer and I am not sure how the attendant can have “an unobstructed view of the cargo tank and delivery hose”. Although I have been told many times this is possible! I mention this attendant requirement, as in my personal experiences, drivers are the worst for leaving their truck for coffee, candy bar, soda/water, bathroom break, to call the little misses, etc.
Bottom line… we can use driver as our attendants when unloading or loading hazardous materials into rail cars and tank trucks. But we have to ensure they are properly equipped and trained so that they can meet or exceed our needs should their be an incident during the unloading process.