Scenario Facts:
- These workers would NEVER enter the warm or hot zone for defensive or offensive actionsrelated to controlling the uncontrolled release. They will be in the warm zone as they will be participating in Decon, but this places them in the far edge of the Warm Zone (e.g. right at the Cold Zone line).
- They are trained in HAZCOM of the chemicals involved in the uncontrolled release and the Decon chemicals.
- They are trained in the PPE they will be using.
- They are trained in the Decon Procedure which resides in the emergency response plan and all the equipment associated with the Decon procedure(s).
Will their regular safety training on these items make them “compliant” with 1910.120(q)?
NOTE: This analysis applies ONLY to fixed facilities that have their own response team which fall under 1910.120(q).
My position is YES and I point to 1910.120(q)(11) “Post-emergency response operations”, which states:
1910.120(q)(11) Post-emergency response operations. Upon completion of the emergency response, if it is determined that it is necessary to remove hazardous substances, health hazards and materials contaminated with them (such as contaminated soil or other elements of the natural environment) from the site of the incident, the employer conducting the clean-up shall comply with one of the following:
1910.120(q)(11)(i) Meet all the requirements of paragraphs (b) through (o) of this section; or
1910.120(q)(11)(ii) Where the clean-up is done on plant property using plant or workplace employees, such employees shall have completed the training requirements of the following: 29 CFR 1910.38, 1910.134, 1910.1200, and other appropriate safety and health training made necessary by the tasks they are expected to perform such as personal protective equipment and decontamination procedures.
If OSHA will permit workers NOT associated with the emergency response team to do the decon of the equipment/room where the release actually occurred AFTER the emergency is over, I can not see how OSHA would have issues with trained employees deconning responders hundreds (if not thousands) of feet away from the release point. This would especially hold true with HAZMATs that have higher vapor pressures, which translates to “there would be little chemical left on the responders PPE by the time they reach decon”.
But I caution anyone who is considering applying this concept. OSHA has stated in their definition of “post emergency response” that the group doing the “post emergency” decon MUST be a group that is DIFFERENT than the actual response team for these actions to actually fit under 1910.120(q)(11). Here is the OSHA definition:
Post emergency response means that portion of an emergency response performed after the immediate threat of a release has been stabilized or eliminated and clean-up of the site has begun. If post emergency response is performed by an employer’s own employees who were part of the initial emergency response, it is considered to be part of the initial response and not post emergency response. However, if a group of an employer’s own employees, separate from the group providing initial response, performs the clean-up operation, then the separate group of employees would be considered to be performing post-emergency response and subject to paragraph (q)(11) of this section.
So there may be a resonable “out” for those workers who will particpate in ONLY Decon activities (both during the emergency and post-emergency) from having to attend a two or three day training session on topics that they will NEVER use. We provide them with ALL the chemical training, PPE training, Decon Procedure(s) training, and have them working under the Decon Leader who is functioning under the Incident Command and is trained at least to the Operations Level, which requires them to “know how to implement basic decontamination procedures” (1910.120(q)(6)(ii)(E). These decon workers would be protected from exposures as well as if they had attened some 2-3 days of training!
Your thoughts?