There is one requirement in the HAZWOPER standard that has been in place since its promulgation, which almost every industrial facility with its own internal HAZMAT response team fails to meet. I receive a significant amount of pushback when I cover this OSHA minimum requirement, and I am always as shocked by the response as the facility is to learn about the requirement.
1910.120(q)(3)(vi) Back-up personnel shall stand by with equipment ready to provide assistance or rescue. Advance first aid support personnel, as a minimum, shall also stand by with medical equipment and transportation capability.
Most everyone knows of and follows the “buddy system” for their responses, but very few will have Advanced First Aid support personnel WITH transportation capability during the response. If the facility is advanced in its ER capability and has its own BLS/ALS staffed ambulance on-site, it would comply. But for those who do NOT have this in-house capability, they will be forced to engage the local EMS service to respond and provide this service during the “emergency response”.