Emergency Response

OSHA’s HAZWOPER (1910.120) divides emergency response into three separate areas. First, OSHA is regulating emergency response by employees at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.  Second, OSHA is regulating emergency response at RCRA facilities.  Third, OSHA is regulating emergency response to hazardous substance releases by employees not covered by paragraphs (l) and (p)(8) in paragraph (q).  …...

The Incident Command System (ICS) is an organized way to respond to emergencies using standard job roles, forms, and terminology. This method of organizing an emergency response is used across the government, industry, and private sector, both within the U.S. and internationally, to create a common structure that everyone understands to ensure fast and efficient…...

MEMBERS UPDATE on 4/12/14 from Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)… On October 31, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. while anhydrous ammonia (ammonia) field application assembly was making a turn at the end of the field, the hitch connection between the application/toolbar unit and the nurse tank failed. The break-away coupling device failed to disengage, causing the threaded…...

WARNING!  Some harsh language in a very small part of the video.  Hazmat teams worked to investigate a 4000-pound ammonia leak after a roof collapse at a cold storage warehouse.  Take a walk with two firefighters investigating the NH3 release.  Watch, listen and see if you see or hear anything that we can learn from…....

I teach around 20 HAZMAT courses each year for industrial response teams and fire departments and the differences in how these two groups conduct their DECON can be HUGE. Almost everyone who has been through a 24-hr or 40-hr HAZMAT course has seen a 6 stage DECON up to a 20 stage DECON; but are…...

Most of us know that reporting in a “timely manner” is critical in regards to compliance with EPA reporting expectation. Most everyone can agree that 30 minutes is about as large of buffer we can expect in defining “timely”. But we are seeing a trend in our Emergency Response assessments for those facilities that sit…...

“Sh_t happens” is what I was told when I inquired about a recent training accident at a State Fire Academy.  Professional firefighters were running a scenario involving an aircraft prop.  What they ended up doing was spaying jet fuel/water mixture onto the fire via an emergency shutdown system and hand lines, causing two minor injuries…...

NIOSH is revising its policy on the use of Emergency Breathing Support Systems (EBSS), also known as “Buddy Breathers”. This policy change is being made coincident with the addition of requirements related to the use and operation of these devices in the NFPA 1981, 2013 edition. This policy change will be applicable ONLY to SCBAs…...

Anyone that is “into” fire protection has seen the videos of the airplane hanger foam systems discharging.  They are quite amazing to watch; however, now we have a fatality as a result of a discharge.  Results are sketchy right now and investigators are trying to determine what caused the tragic incident that killed one man and injured…...

The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006 requires MSHA to update these criteria every five (5) years. One of the criteria for a mine operator to certify the qualifications of a coal mine rescue team is that team members are properly trained annually. MSHA has updated the prescribed instruction guides for…...