Emergency Response

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…...

This is not the first time I have written about “limitations” of our emergency response equipment, but this is one I just learned first hand. Let me be CLEAR HERE… ALL equipment and gear we use has limitations so this is not any type of slam against any manufacturer – in fact the piece of…...

This is a neat and very helpful tool for those of you needing to get your compressed gas cylinders “hydro’ed”.  Using Google Maps, all one has to do is type in their zip code and the map will provide locations within a 15, 25, and 50 mile radius of those companies that can either perform…...

Firefighter Injury Project Investigation Report FIP Investigation #2 Three Firefighters Injured While Recharging A Pressurized Water Fire Extinguisher To: Division of Safety Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health From: Firefighter Injury Project (FIP), New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) Subject: Three Firefighters Injured While Recharging A Pressurized Water Fire Extinguisher, Firefighter Injury Investigation…...

The owner or operator of a Brewery, which uses anhydrous ammonia, as a refrigerant at the facility had a reportable release of ammonia on October 12, 2011 at or about 2:19 a.m.  Approximately 664 pounds of anhydrous ammonia spilled, leaked, pumped, emitted, discharged, or escaped into tbe ambient air and/or air from the facility.  Company…...

NFPA 1851 – Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, 2014 Edition; Reference: 8.1.4, F.I. No. 1851-14-01 Background: I’ve been recently made aware of a situation where structural fire fighting PPE were repaired with materials that were previously used and not in new condition…. Membership Required You must be...