Emergencies Chemical spills

Provides chemical information to assist response to emergencies involving spills of hazardous materials. Contains chemical, physical, and biological data, and specific response-oriented information (c.g., countermeasures). Developed by (he U.S. Coast Guard. 

The cit> developed an Industrial Mutual Aid System that has been copied all over the world. It incorporates resources from city government, police and fire departments and all of the industries at the port. Emergencies covered in the plan range from simple chemical spills and vapor leaks up to Category Five hurricanes and jetliner crashes. 

An emergency response action for handling major chemical spills or incidents requiring immediate action, usually only at the surface of a site (e.g., to avert an explosion, to clean up a hazardous waste spill, or to stabilize a site until a permanent remedy can be found) these action are limited to 12 months or USD 2 million in expenditure, although in certain cases these limits may be extended. 

Again, it is also important to remember that chemical emergency situations can easily reach beyond the boundaries of any industrial plant. This is to be expected, especially in this age of population explosion with its characteristic urban sprawl. It is not unusual to find, for example, a chemical industrial plant site or other industrial plant that originally was isolated from city dwellers but later became surrounded on all sides by neighbors. The point is that when a chemical spill or chemical disaster occurs in an isolated area there may be no cause for general alarm however, when such a deliberate disaster occurs in the plant site as described in the sugar plant incident, it should be clear that the purpose of PSM, RMP, the Patriot Act, Homeland Security directives, OSHA s Combustible Dust NEP, and other safety/security factors is far-reaching—and absolutely critical to the survival of a free society. 

VI Hazard-Specific Procedures Procedures that explain the actions to be taken in response to a specific emergency, such as credible incidents (fire, chemical spill, etc.) and natural disasters. 

EPCRA s primary purpose is to inform citizens of chemical hazards in their communities. Sections 311 and 312 of EPCRA require businesses to report the locations and quantities of chemicals stored on-site to State and local governments in order to help communities prepare to respond to chemical spills and similar emergencies. EPCRA Section 313 requires the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the States to annually collect data on releases and transfers of certain toxic chemicals from industrial facilities, and make the data available to the public in the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). 

Leading researchers explain how these brcakthrough.s help researchers determine physiologically relevant detection thresholds and develop more effective countermeasures and national response procedures. Chemical Watfare Agents provides first responders and emergency medical teams with the most up-to-date information they need to prepare for and handle natural disasters, chemical spills, terrorism, and warfare situations—quickly and effectively. 

This book fully discusses requirements set forth by OSHA, EPA, and DOT for communicating chemical hazards. Up-to-date chemical lists for emergency planning, spill reporting, and toxic chemical release reporting are Included. 

Right-to-Know Working Around Hazardous Substances From worker perspective, labeling and handling of hazardous chemicals, oxidizers, poisons, corrosives, flammables, water-sensitive chemicals, spill response, and protective and emergency equipment. BNA Communications Inc. 

Basic workplace safety on 13 OSHA-required training issues. Chemical spills, fire protection, confined spaces, emergency plans, personal protective equipment, hazardous waste, lockout and tagout, safe lifting, housekeeping, labels, chemical handling, hearing protection, and respirators. 

This hotline is an emergency hotline for chemical spills and other incidents. Information pertaining to spill mitigation and cleanup, as well as environmental fate can be obtained during an emergency. 

Tune to your local radio or television station for information. The warning siren could mean a nuclear pow er plant emergency or the sirens could be used as a warning for tornado, fire, flood, chemical spill, etc. 

Personnel who responded to a chemical spill of methyl acrylate were never briefed by facility personnel. As a result, they did not assume command of the event, even though facility procedures require the command to be transferred to Emergency Management and Response (EM R) if the facility does not have adequate resources to handle an event. The fact that the facility called for the hazardous materials (HAZMAT) team and used the services of occupational medicine was a sign that it did not have the necessary personnel to deal with the event, so EM R should have assumed the role of incident commander. Furthermore, no one was concerned about the flammability of the chemical. No one called the lire department to respond as a precautionary measure. If the methyl... 

Evaluative research is needed on interventions for preventing or ameliorating adverse psychological effects in emergency workers, victims, and near-victims. Specific crisis intervention methods may be necessary for chemical or biological terrorist incidents, but in the absence of such incidents researchers might draw on studies of chemical spills, epidemics of infectious disease, and more conventional terrorist incidents. 

OSHA issued a special regulation dealing with chemical spills. The standard, 29 CFR 1910.120, is called the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, or HAZWOPER. The standard covers two important parts of a plant s operation emergency response and hazardous waste operations. Emergency response roles consist of five levels—first responder awareness level, first responder operations level, hazardous materials technician, specialist level, and incident commander. Hazardous waste operations consists of the incident command system, scene safety and control, spill control and containment, decontamination procedures, and the all clear. 

Emergency Action Plan (EAP)—A plan for an anticipated emergency (e.g., fire, hurricane, chemical spill, and so on). 

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)—An OSHA standard that addresses chemical spills and releases. 

A chemical spill is probably the most common accident in the laboratory, and in most cases can be cleaned up by laboratory personnel with minimal effort or risk. According to the requirements of the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, laboratory personnel are required to be trained in the risks associated with the chemicals with which they are working and should know when it is safe to clean up a minor spill. Workers should be especially sure to be familiar with the risks and the corrective actions to be taken in an emergency for chemicals labeled on the container DANGER or WARNING. If personal protective equipment is needed, personnel required to wear it must receive appropriate training in how to use and maintain the equipment. 

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