Decontamination active

Special industrial hygiene considerations associated with clean up and decontamination activities may need to be implemented. 

Disposable PPE should be removed, and the workers should thoroughly wash and rinse themselves. Anything contaminated should be left on site and disposed of in the proper manner. In this case, the worker and equipment would leave the site only after having been thoroughly cleaned. Refer to Chapter 10 for detailed decontamination activities. 

Improvement Item GVW Fire Department did not have adequate resources to conduct decontamination activities for mass casualty situation. 

Improvement Item Decontamination logs were not accurate due to chaotic state at the scene. Gross decontamination performed but quickly overwhelmed Fire Department did not have adequate resources to conduct decontamination activities for mass casualty situation. 

Decontaminating a site where chemical agents have been applied is its own unique challenge. At a 1998 NATO conference in Bucharest, military decontamination was discussed and examined. Most of the military applications of decontamination were primarily for the equipment and materials, and it did not, at that time, consider any civilian reoccupation of the contaminated battle sites. I had the opportunity to learn some other interesting things about decontamination activities. 

Pressurized stagnant aquifers with slightly saline water should be preserved for similar reasons, because their water may be useful for large-scale decontamination activities, for domestic and industrial needs in times of shortage, and for future desalinization, especially in remote inland regions. 

Outside of military conflicts, exposure to sulfur mustard has occurred or may occur in work environments associated with chemical weapon materiel (e.g. storage depots, demilitarization facilities, research laboratories), during emergency response operations or remediation and decontamination activities, or during treaty verification activities in support of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Chemical weapons such as the vesicants are stiU considered potential military threats and terrorist targets. The most likely route of exposure to sulfur mustard is via aerosol/vapor exposure of the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. 

Basic and advanced life-support measures should be utilized as necessary. Terbutaline overdoses rarely require treatment beyond gastrointestinal decontamination. Activated charcoal effectively binds terbutaline. The hypokalemia produced reflects a transient shift in potassium location rather than a true deficit... 

The amendments contained in the final rule will be codified in the CER at 40 CFR 750 and 40 CER 761. The final rule authorizes certain uses of PCBs and materials contaminated with PCBs to continue if exposures can be controlled, and if removal and disposal of the material would be costly or impractical. More flexibility in selecting disposal technologies for PCBs is also allowed, and the list of available decontamination procedures has been expanded. The final rule allows disposal of PCBs from decontamination activities, but does not require previously needed disposal approval (EPA 1998a). The amendments add provisions for disposing of PCB remediation waste and certain products containing PCBs. TSCA does not allow state disposal rules for PCBs to be preempted, particularly if the method of disposal is described. 

B. Nausea and vomiting by delaying gastric emptying and hypotonicity. May impact Gl decontamination (activated charcoal, whole-bowel irrigation). 

Storage of oxidizers in the pores should also be possible. The oxidizers could be incorporated as structural components of the material, physically entrapped, or immobilization by electrostatic and/or covalent bonds. POMs, in combination with friendly nanomaterials, present special promise, because POMs are versatile, reversible, and tunable oxidants and that, upon reduction by toxics, can be regenerated by air oxidation. Thus, nanomaterials will be accessible that catalyze the oxidative degradation of a range of threats and simultaneously exhibit complementary decontamination activities and other capabilities. 

Following cleanup, the responsible party must document the cleanup with records identifying the source of the spill, the estimated date and time of spill occurrence, the date and time cleanup was completed and description of cleanup/decontamination activities, and pre- and post-cleanup sampling. A certification statement is also to be signed by the responsible party stating that the cleanup requirements have been met and that the information contained in the records is true to the best of his/her knowledge. 

The HCF provides adequate space for all maintenance work, storage, laydown, material staging, and decontamination activities. Work areas are maintained in a clean, uncluttered condition with adequate lighting to provide for safe and efficient working conditions. Office space at the HCF is adequate and provides the necessary equipment for all maintenance documentation and site communications. All tools and equipment used by HCF personnel, including special tools, test equipment, hoists, and ladders, are located in areas either adjacent to work areas, in the machine shop, or in designated service areas to provide for ease of access. 

The HAZWOPER Standard, 29 CFR 1910.120, requires placement of DOT-specified salvage drums or containers with suitable quantities of proper absorbent materials in areas where spills, leaks, or ruptures may occur. OSHA requires the development of spill procedures to contain and isolate the entire volume of the hazardous substance. Responders must meet the training requirements of the OSHA standard. OSHA also mandates the use of appropriate PPE when responding to a spill or supporting decontamination activities. Responders must know the types of chemicals, level of exposure risk, and physical characteristics of the chemical hazard. Responders must know about... 

OSH A mandates the nse of appropriate PPE when responding to a spill or supporting decontamination activities. Responders must know the types of chemicals, level of exposure risk, and physical... 

For maintenance and decontamination activities that occur during the clean-up of leaks or spills, during maintenance or repair operations on contaminated systems or equipment, or during any operation involving work in an area where direct contact with a carcinogen addressed by this section of the CFR could result, each authorized employee entering that area shall... 

Where spills of liquid AN are detected, the employer shall assure that surfaces contacted by the liquid AN are decontaminated. Employees not engaged in decontamination activities shall leave the area of the spill, and shall not be permitted in the area until decontamination is completed. 

Provision shall be made in the design for handling the radioactive waste generated by the research reactor. Provision shall be made for appropriate decontamination facilities for both personnel and equipment and for handling the radioactive waste arising from decontamination activities. 

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