Exclusion zones

Aeeess eontrol points are established at the hot zone to regulate the flow of personnel and equipment into and out of the zone. Separate entranees and exits are provided for personnel and heavy equipment. 

Wlien establishing the exelusion zone, you should visually survey the worksite to review the following items  

Determine the loeations of the hazardous materials and substanees drainage, leaehate, spilled material, and visible diseolorations. 

The CRZ/C s primary purpose is to keep the support zone free of eontaminants and hazards. The size and loeation of the CRZ/C should be based on the stability of site eonditions, the potential for dispersion of eontaminants and for unexpeeted events, and the proximity of unin- 

Developing a Site-Specific Health and Safety Plan 65 

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If a truck driver is hauling clay fill into an exclusion zone, does this fall under the HAZWOPER standard At some sites, it might be a requirement that ALL persons (including truck drivers) are HAZWOPER trained. However, in all likelihood, a requirement to HAZWOPER train all truck drivers would be a difficult requirement to administer. At most sites, drivers are not HAZWOPER trained. One way to avoid this training would be to require that the drivers do not drive through contaminated areas. In addition, make sure that the drivers know that they must not leave their trucks and that they should keep their windows rolled up. 

Wlien utility work is located in an exclusion zone, are workers who enter the area exposed to hazardous materials Hazard characterization and exposure assessment performed by a competent person may show that the area surrounding the equipment and an access corridor leading to the equipment can be cleaned so that the utility workers can work in the... 

No one should enter a contaminated area or an exclusion zone without a buddy (someone who can aid you in case of an emergency) who is capable of the following ... 

The typical decontamination may include removing any gross contamination in the exclusion zone using equipment that will stay in the EZ (for instance, a hand scraper, a wire brush, etc.). Once gross contamination is removed, the worker (or equipment) might go to the decon pad where washing with a scrub brush, soap, and water might take place. Chapter 10 provides an in-depth discussion of decontamination and work zones. 

Anything that enters an exclusion zone should be evaluated as to its potential contamination. If not removed properly, these contaminants may permeate PPE, tools, instruments, and other equipment [2]. In addition, this potential contamination can be transferred to the clean zones if it is not controlled. If contamination does get into clean zones, anyone may be able to take the contamination home with them to affect themselves, family members, and the general population. 

In some cases, decontamination workers wear the same level of PPE as workers entering the controlled area or exclusion zone. In others, decontamination workers are sufficiently protected by wearing a lower level of PPE. In many instances, level D protection is not acceptable in the CRZ. In addition, all decontamination workers should be decontaminated before entering the support zone. Appropriate equipment and clothing for protecting decontamination workers should be planned by the project team [2]. 

A visitor policy should be established in the SSAHP. Visitors and representatives from government and other organizations should be specifically mentioned. Zones that visitors can tour, and the circumstances under which the visitor may tour a zone, should be specified in the plan. If someone needs to go into an exclusion zone, those persons must have the appropriate orientation, safety training, medical clearance, and meet any other requirements mentioned in the SSAHP. 

Typically, visitors have little or no reason to enter exclusion zones. An observation deck or other area out of the exclusion zone can usually allow any visitor (with or without the aid of binoculars) to observe work activities as necessary. Video cameras have been used successfully to show... 

F. All site control elements of the safety and health program must be fully implemented as described in the program. The purpose of site control requirements is to ensure that only properly trained and authorized individuals enter those areas of the site with potential hazards, and that, in the event of an emergency, rapid assistance can be rendered to employees working in the exclusion zone. This section discusses the findings of two components of site control the establishment and maintenance of site work zones and the establishment and implementation of appropriate confined space procedures. 

Site H was the only site at which the contractor had implemented comprehensive and effective site control elements. The Site H contractor had established site work zones, a buddy system, and site communication procedures consistent with 1910.120(d). This contractor had also established exclusion zones and contamination reduction zones to control migration of site contaminants to clean areas of the site when work within these areas introduced the potential for exposure to hazardous contaminants. The audit team supported this contractor s use of flexible and temporary work zone boundaries based on monitoring results and hazard determinations. 

The contractor s site control elements at Site B were not comprehensive however, the contractor s SSAHP did address site entry and training requirements and mandated that all personnel, including subcontractors and visitors entering the exclusion zone or decontamination zone, meet HAZWOPER training requirements. 

Forty-hour training was required for personnel entering the exclusion zone, and additional supervisory training was required for site supervisors. Site control procedures described in the Site C contractor s SSAHP included maintenance of site control logs at each access point, use of red tape or chainlink fencing to demarcate hot zones, and use of the buddy system in all exclusion and contamination reduction zone areas. Site communications relied almost exclusively on visual sighting of employees the plan did not describe the use of two-way radios. This suggested that all employees in hot zones can be observed continuously from the support zones. 

Signiflcant deficiencies in site control procedures existed at Site K. For example, the Site K subcontractor had not established a contamination reduction zone (CRZ), to physically separate the support zone from the exclusion zone, as required in the site plan. 

The bench where decontamination took place was only a few feet from the thermal unit and was not isolated from exclusion zone activities employees moved freely between their work stations in the exclusion zone and the decontamination bench. In addition, the subcontractor did not conduct monitoring activities to support work zone designations. Neither Site K contractor used warning signs to delineate exclusion zones, as required by their respective health and safety plans. 

Site D lacked a sufficient CRZ and also lacked access/egress control for the exclusion zone. The site control plan did not accurately identify the function of the CRZ as a buffer zone between the exclusion zone and the support zone, and there was no buffer area between the decontamination pad and the road that runs adjacent to the pad, marked as a support zone. Also, an exclusion zone log-in procedure for tracking personnel who enter and exit this zone was not used on site as called for in the SSAHP. 

The primary contractor at Site A had identified clean zones, buffer zones, and related site control procedures in its written plan however, onsite implementation differed from those specified in the plan. For example, the exclusion zones identified in the plan at the upper pad of the wastewater treatment plant, the dredge area, and the solid waste storage area were marked with signs requiring PPE, but were not labeled with red banners as called for in the plan. In addition, the exclusion zones did not have controlled access through one point of entry as described in the plan, nor were the buffer zones established and demarcated with yellow banners. 

The results of the audits indicate that the delineation of zones is easy to put into a plan hut difficult to keep current. The nature of remedial work demands fiexihility. As sites become remediated, the exclusion zone boundaries change. This is not a situation that is easily handled in a plan, but should be reviewed as other site documents on a predetermined regular basis. 

At Site I, personnel and equipment decontamination procedures were not monitored for their effectiveness in accordance with HAZ-WOPER requirements. The Site I subcontractor did not have provisions for particulate sampling, evaluating exposure to pesticides and herbicides, or evaluating the effectiveness of site zone boundaries and personnel decontamination procedures. Additionally, monitoring had not been conducted to verify that decontamination was not necessary for employees who leave the exclusion zone and enter a clean zone without undergoing decontamination. 

Failure to maintain a safe exclusion zone about the plant Flushing of pipes without investigating the blockage... 

Matsunaga T, Ueno T, Amano H, et al. 1998. Characteristics of Chernobyl-derived radionuclides in particulate form in surface waters in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. J Contain Hydrol 35 101-113. 

Consider the distances needed to prevent an explosion or fire from affecting personnel outside the exclusion zone... 

At a hazardous waste site, remediation and decontamination facilities should be located in the CRZ, that is, the area between the exclusion zone (the contaminated area) and the support zone (the clean area). The level and types of remediation and decontamination procedures required depend on several site-specific factors ... 

Stations should be separated physically to prevent cross-contamination and should be arranged in order of decreasing contamination, preferably in a straight line. Separate flow patterns and stations should be provided to isolate workers from different contamination zones containing incompatible wastes. Entry and exit points should be conspicuously marked, and the entry to the CRZ from the exclusion zone should be separate from the entry to the exclusion zone from the CRZ. Dressing stations for entry to the CRZ should be separate from redressing areas for exit from the CRZ. Personnel who wish to enter clean areas of the decontamination facility, such as locker rooms, should be completely decontaminated. 

Hot Zone The area adjacent to and surrounding a hazardous materials incident that extends far enough to prevent the effects of hazardous materials releases from endangering personnel outside the zone also known as the restricted zone or the exclusion zone. 

For the inhabitants of the exclusion zone, situated in a forested region without well-developed economic and social infrastructures, it is of interest to estimate the relative contributions to internal exposure of forest food (berries and mushrooms) and conventional agricultural food (potatoes and milk). Some specialist studies have assumed that forest food represents only a small part of the diet of inhabitants of the exclusion zone, but we would suggest that in fact, it plays a major role. Typically, the consumption of forest food contributes 50% of the internal exposure dose, while for some critical population groups, it can exceed 80%. The definition of the spatial variation in pollution, the prevailing ecological conditions, and the diet should allow a scientifically-based prediction to be made of the internal exposure dose to the local population, and will help to identify the major risk factors within a certain time period following the Chernobyl catastrophe. 

Slavov V., Borschenko V. et all. Peculiarities of the internal and external exposure dose forming of the rural population of Exclusion zone // Visnyk of Agrarian Science. - April 2001.-P. 86-89. 

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