Emergency Response

Each year I received dozens of e-mail questions, as well as from clients with operations in OH, regarding a “requirement” by Ohio Fire Codes to conduct an “annual evacuation drill”.  Since this question seems to be so popular, I thought I should just post my attempt at an FAQ for OH Fire Drills: 1) Does…...

So you have to make the call… Is this an incidental release or would this release rise to the level of sounding the alarm, evacuating the engine room – thus making this an emergency response?… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

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). …...

ICC-500, ICC/NSSA Standard on the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters, establishesMINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for structures and spaces designated as hurricane, tornado, or combination shelters. The standard addresses the design of such shelters from the perspective of the structural requirements for high wind conditions and addresses minimum requirements for the interior environment during a storm event…....

When I teach Emergency Response courses at fixed facilities I encourage the facility to use their safety showers as their first stage (and often the only stage) of decontamination during an emergency response.  For years, fixed facility personnel attended HAZMAT training with local fire departments where they were taught the traditional 4-6 stage decon line…...

A very common question we get during our work is… “Am I required to have a first aid team on site?” And “If I am, do they fall under the Blood Borne Pathogen standard”?  OSHA actually provided us some great insight into their position on these questions in a 2007 LOI.  They stated…… Membership Required...

Workers cleaning a chemical spill at a manufacturer of plastic thermoformed products had not been trained in proper cleanup procedures or provided proper personal protective equipment, according to an OSHA investigation. OSHA found that workers experienced symptoms of overexposure to an isocyanates chemical used in plastics manufacturing that can cause occupational asthma and other lung…...

Just when we think we have seen it all, someone rises to the occasion to demonstrate the bottom of the barrel must be a bottomless pit!  Folks, this is so wrong I can not imagine the fire company publishing it on Youtube.  Maybe it was a citizen with a cell phone… but how could a…...

During my 24-hr Tech course last week we had an interesting discussion about “the line” between an operator taking “emergency actions” and an operator being an “emergency responder”. This has to be a top question in all our HAZMAT courses at industrial facilities; however, OSHA has actually made the line very clear in their 2007…...