Personal protective hazard assessment

Performing hazard assessments, personal protective equipment assessments and safety inspections. 

The need to provide protective measures will be directly related to the level of potential hazards which may be assessed from the procedures outlined above. Measures concerned with reaction control are frequently mentioned in the following text, but details of techniques and equipment for personal protection, though usually excluded from the scope of this work, are obviously of great importance. 

When an explosive device is used to disperse radioactive, chemical, or biological materials, the treatment of casualties is more difficult because of the presence of contamination. In this situation, emergency responders could face a life-threatening situation unless appropriate precautions are taken. These precautions include using screening instruments (see Section 6.12) to assess hazard conditions before responding, then selecting the appropriate level of personal protective equipment (see Section 6.7) to provide protection from the hazard. 

The appropriate level of personal protection necessary to safely perform the site characterization activities will depend on the assessment of site hazards that might pose a risk to the site characterization team. The hazard assessment may be further refined during the approach to the site, based on the results of the field safety screening and initial observations of site conditions. Two general scenarios are considered, one in which there are no obvious signs of immediate hazards, and one in which there are indicators of site hazards. 

All methods should be carried out only by competent persons and with adequate supervision when necessary. All obligations under The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999 (COSHH), should be observed, and risk-assessment documentation completed. Appropriate personal protective equipment should be provided and worn whenever recommended. Persons carrying out the procedures in this manual do so entirely at their own risk, and neither the author, publishers, or anyone mentioned in, or connected with this publication can be held in any way responsible for any accidents no matter how caused. 

Responds to the release of hazardous substances in a defensive manner without actually trying to stop the release. Requires Level 1 competency and 8 hours of additional training in basic hazard and risk assessment, personal protective equipment selection, containment and control procedures, decontamination, and standard operating procedures. 

Hazard and risk assessment, personal protective equipment, handling of releases, decontamination, operating and termination procedures leader s training guide included. 

Hazards will be assessed by a five-tiered scale which ranges from 0 to 4. A "0" hazard denotes a minimal hazard, while a 4" hazard indicates a severe hazard. In addition, the system tells the employee the proper personal protective equipment to be worn while using a material under specific conditions. The degree of hazard for each of the three types of hazard is explained in table 1. 

With or without an MSDS, however, caution in chemical handling should be observed. As a general guideline, worker and student exposures to laboratory chemicals should be kept to a minimum. Because so many laboratory chemicals are hazardous to humans in some way, conservative risk assessment should be employed. Persons in the laboratory should assume that personal protection is required whenever they are working with chemicals. Chemicals of unknown toxicity initially should be treated as toxic with respect to exposure during work performed in the laboratory. For work with chemicals of known toxicity, appropriate precautions should be taken. When working with mixtures of chemicals, the risk of the mixture as a whole should be assumed at least to equal the risk for the most toxic component of the mixture. 

Respiratory Protection To assess the safety of any particular operation, measurement of the solvent vapor exposure to workers in the area is recommended. If it is determined that the concentration in air is less than the recommended TWA for the solvent, no injury would be expected to workmen. If changes are made in the operation, which may result in an increase in concentration, duration, or frequency of exposure, measurements should be repeated. The degree of hazard can be minimized by containing the cleaning operation in an enclosed area, such as a hood, by ventilation that removes the vapors from the workroom air away from workers. The use of personal protective devices, such as gas masks, respirators, and self-contained or remote breathing apparatus, are not recommended for continuous use but can be effective for handling spills or similar upsets. 

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, Personal Protective Equipment Standard, selection of protective clothing follows a hazard assessment, which determines a need for required protections. 

---