Site materials management

Although at first sight this may appear to be a purely construction management issue, in fact materials management cannot be adequately performed unless the materials control system has been adequately engineered this is especially true for bulk materials. 

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As discnssed in Chapter 3, the results of the initial company-level prioritization were based solely on the chemical hazards and identified facihties whose transportation operations would require a facihty/operational level review. The focus of this example is on the security of the hazardous materials in and out of a single XYZ Chemical facihty, and is the same Asian plant that was evaluated for safety issues in Chapters 4 and 5. In addition to the corporate directive to evaluate transportation safety risk at this facihty, the site security manager was informed of the need to complete a security risk analysis of the hazardous materials in transit. To inihate the security review, the security manager and health and safety manager met to review the findings of the safety analysis. In addition to focusing on chemicals and hazards from the initial safety prioritizahon, the security prioritization process also considers ... 

Required safety doeumentation [e g., material safety data sheet (MSDS)] and Input of chemical information into the site chemical management tracking system. 

Lack of training. Projects, being discontinuous phenomena, are naturally associated with discontinuous employment and the use of new staff. Training needs and the associated time-lags easily lead to the use of relatively untrained staff over peak periods. All project personnel are involved, not just data input clerks. For instance, a site storeman who understands neither the need for meticulous input nor the consequences of error - but does understand the need to issue materials promptly under pressure - can and will reduce a computerized materials management system to irreversible chaos. Unreliable software support staff Software developers may understand that they are well-positioned to make themselves... 

To achieve the Safety Objectives, measures need to be taken to control radiation exposure in all operational states to levels as low as reasonably achievable and to minimize the likelihood of an accident that might lead to the loss of normal control of the source of radiation. Nevertheless, accidents can happen. Measures are therefore required to ensure that any radiological consequences are mitigated. Such measures include on-site accident management procedures and off-site intervention measures in order to mitigate radiation exposure after an accident has occurred. The greater the potential hazard from an uncontrolled release of radioactive material, the lower the likelihood must be of its occurrence. 

Niskanen T, and J Lauttalammi (1989) Accident prevention in materials handling at building construction sites. Construction Management and Economics, vol 7, pp 263-279. 

Recychng (or reuse) refers to the use (or reuse) of materials that would otherwise be disposed of or treated as a waste product. A good example is a rechargeable battery. Wastes that cannot be directly reused may often be recovered on-site through methods such as distillation. When on-site recoveiy or reuse is not feasible due to quality specifications or the inability to perform recoveiy on-site, off-site recoveiy at a permitted commerci recoveiy facihty is often a possibility. Such management techniqiies are considered secondaiy to source reduc tion and should only oe used when pollution cannot be prevented. 

Removal of Unprocessed Materials This would include raw materials, packaging materials, labels and other such items. The toller can either retain the materials at no cost, purchase the materials from their client (if offered), dispose of the materials for the client, ship all unprocessed material back to an indicated client site, or a combination of these options. Compensation must be agreed upon for any client-owned material that the toller retains. Unused packaging materials, labels and other items bearing the client s identity should be strictly managed. They should either be recovered by the client or destroyed in a manner approved by the client. 

The atmospheric movement of pollutants from sources to receptors is only one form of translocation. A second one involves our attempt to control air pollutants at the source. The control of parhculate matter by wet or dry scrubbing techniques 3delds large quantities of waste materials—often toxic—which are subsequently taken to landfills. If these wastes are not properly stored, they can be released to soil or water systems. The prime examples involve the disposal of toxic materials in dump sites or landfills. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 and subsequent revisions are examples of legislation to ensure proper management of solid waste disposal and to minimize damage to areas near landfills (4). 

Johnson, W. and P. Johnson. "Pitfalls of Geophysics in Characterizing Underground Hazardous Waste," In Management of Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sites Proceedings, Hazardous Materials Control Research Institute, Washington, D C., p. 227-232, 1986. 

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