Spill Control

A company’s spill prevention and response plan should be kept in a central location where it is easily accessible for all employees to find in a moment’s notice. Every plan should have the following sections: materials inventory, spills that require special cleanup, facility map, employee training log, and a spill kit inventor and labeling. The supervisor is responsible for keeping the employees up to date in training and are familiar with the procedures as they get updated. After the plan has been fully implemented it should be maintained annually and should especially be updated when new chemicals are brought into the workforce. On the plan there should be a list of people and their phone numbers that are deemed responsible for spill response planning. There should also be a list of emergency contact numbers such as the numbers for your local fire department, poison control center, police department, emergency release and incident reporting line, and the safety department at the company.

The next item on the list is the clean-up procedures. Only employees that have gone through the proper training are allowed to clean up chemical spills, if they are not trained they should find the nearest person with training. It is vital that the employees use the proper protective equipment while cleaning up spills. There is a maximum amount of chemical that an employee is allowed to pick up, in case the amounts are greater than the maximum they are instructed to call the responders on the emergency contact list.

When an employee spills a chemical they are instructed to evacuate the area unless they have training on how to clean it up. When cleaning up a spill, all cleanup materials should be treated as hazardous waste. Some materials used for clean-up are: Material Safety Data Sheets, absorbents, over-pack container, container patch kits, spill dams, shovels, floor dry, acid/base neutralizers, and “caution-keep out” signs.

Spills are classified in three different sizes: small, medium and large. A small spill is classified as a spill where the major dimension is less than 18 inches in diameter and can be handled by trained employees. Medium and large spills should be determined by the company if they are appropriate for the employees to clean up or not. Medium and large spills should be called in to the police and the area should be evacuated. There should also be a list of all chemicals used and the maximum amounts that are appropriate for employees to clean up and the proper way to dispose of it. On the plan there is a list of all materials and spill kits including the quantity and location of the materials. To make the locations completely clear, there should be a map of the area where everything is located.

All spills regardless of how small should be reported and have a form filled out. Spills should be reported to the Facility Responsible Person and they can decide if the effects of the spill could affect the environment outside of the facility.  

https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/771/documents/CGD/Resource_Sheets/Auto_Repair/Spill%20Prevention%20and%20Response.pdf

https://www.tpchd.org/file_viewer.php?id=4703

http://cms.bsu.edu/-/media/WWW/DepartmentalContent/Facilities/PDF/BSU%20Chemical%20and%20Biological%20Spill%20Control%20and%20Response%20Plan.pdf

Disposing of Chemical Waste and Unwanted Chemicals

Universities typically post the disposal of used and unwanted chemicals instructions on their Laboratory Reference Manual. An “unwanted” chemical has a very wide definition, it can mean a chemical that has not even been opened yet or a by-product from a chemical reaction or solvent. Sometimes this definition also extends to mean glassware or gloves that have come in contact with an unwanted chemical.

Before working with any chemical it is important to plan out how you will properly dispose of them with the least amount of environmental effects. There are many different ways to dispose of waste. Four common routes to dispose of waste are: have a Chemical Safety Office pick them up, throw them out in the normal trash, organize them from normal trash and pout them directly into the dumpster, and pour them in the sanitary sewer. If unsure about which method to use, the Chemical Safety Officer will recommend the best method depending on the chemical in question. The Environmental Health and Science Department will pick up chemicals, waste flammable solvents and by-products from reactions.

The vast majority of pure unwanted chemicals should go directly to the Chemical Safety Office. Typically, sewer disposal in the lab is allowed for small quantities (less than a liter) of specific types of chemicals. We saw this during out inspection of a lab, as long as the instructor said it was okay you can pour chemicals down the drain with the water running. If the water is not running, then it could cause the chemicals to aerosolize and create an unsafe condition for the people in the lab. No hazardous wastes - as defined by the EPA – can go down the drain. A hazardous waste is defined as a waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health or the environment. 

Separate and throw away in the trash is for minimally contaminated waste that still poses a hazard risk to the average citizen because of the toxicity of the chemicals. While items in this section can go into a landfill with the regular trash, you want to ensure that staff that may have to empty the trash are not accidentally exposed. This area of trash should be collected in a trash bag separate from normal lab trash in your workplace and labeled with contents. When the bag is filled it should be placed in a sturdy box for disposal.

Items such as lab wipes, gloves and items not minimally contaminated with low hazard chemicals can go in the regular trash. Items such as glass should not go into the normal trash due to the potential danger it could cause to the custodial staff when changing the garbage cans.

When throwing away any chemicals it is important to make sure that any two chemicals are not incompatible with each other. If they are incompatible it could cause a dangerous reaction which could produce harmful by-products. For instance, never mix oxidizers with organic solvents, cyanides with acids, azides with acids or oxidizing reagents with reducing agents.

http://www.ehs.wisc.edu/chem/DisposalUsedUnwantedChemicals.pdf

https://www3.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/

http://ccehss.berkeley.edu/section6

Chemical Hygiene Plan

OSHA’s Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories standard (29 CFR 1910.1450) describes the requirements for a chemical hygiene plan. There are eight requirements for a chemical hygiene plan. There must be written standard operating procedures that are relevant to safety and health considerations for each activity involving the use of hazardous chemicals. The second requirement listed the criteria that the employer must implement measures to reduce exposures to hazardous materials. The exposures are prevented with either engineering controls, the use of personal protective equipment or PPE, and administrative controls. The third requirement states that fume hoods and personal protective equipment must be functioning properly and ensure the proper maintenance of the equipment. The fourth requirement is that there needs to be the proper information to be available to the lab personnel: the contents of the laboratory standard, the location of the chemical hygiene plan, the permissible exposure limits for OSHA regulated substances or recommend exposure limits for other hazardous chemicals where no standard exists, the signs and symptoms associated with exposures to hazardous chemicals used in the laboratory, and the location of the Material Safety Data Sheets. The fifth requirement describes the circumstances under which a particular laboratory procedure requires prior approval from the employer before being implemented. The sixth requirement states that there needs to be a person appointed for the position of the Chemical Hygiene Officer and a Chemical Hygiene Committee.  The seventh requirement is for provisions for additional worker protection for those that work with hazardous substances. These hazardous substances are under the title of “select carcinogens,” reproductive toxins and substances that have a high degree of acute toxicity. Employees must use a fume hood or glove boxes when using these kinds of chemicals. There must be strict directions for the safe removal of contaminated waste. The eighth and final requirement is that the employer must evaluate the effectiveness of the chemical hygiene plan.

Employees must have the correct training, this includes: the physical and health hazards of the chemicals that are used in the work area, methods that are used to detect the presence of hazardous chemicals in the workspace, and training on the proper use of personal protective equipment and other ways to protect themselves from the hazards. If an accident were to happen the workers need the opportunity to have medical consultation to determine the need for further medical attention. An accident could be a spill, leak, explosion, or another occurrence.

Most colleges have their Chemical Hygiene Plan on their main screen of their laboratory page ever since the accident at UCLA. This has set a standard for all colleges and having students in the labs for them to be safe. These plans normally all cover the same areas and some can be as long as 1,500 pages. These plans are supposed to be reviewed every year however, this is not always done since they are so extensively detailed and long. In reality not much is to be changed from year to year when they are reviewed.

http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/sr/dohs/documents/nih%20chemical%20hygiene%20plan.pdf

http://www.ehs.wisc.edu/chemicalhygieneplan.htm

https://www.osha.gov/Publications/laboratory/OSHAfactsheet-laboratory-safety-chemical-hygiene-plan.pdf

Handling Cryogenic Gases Safely

Cryogenic materials are compounds that have to be cooled to an extremely low temperature to change from a gas to a liquid. It is important to keep them at this low temperature to make sure they remain in the gas phase. They are also known for their high expansion rate when the compound is in the gas phase. Some examples of cryogenics are: helium, argon, nitrogen, methane, and oxygen. Many cryogenic gases are flammable which could lead to fire and explosion hazards in the workplace. When in use you must keep any ignition sources away from the area where cryogenic gases are being used. Some examples include: open flames, welding, and electrical equipment when not intrinsically safe.

I found the equivalent of American OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but in Canada it is called the Occupational Health and Safety or OSH. Their webpage had a ton of great information on how to work safely with cryogenic gases. Their best “solution” to how to work safely with cryogenic gases is to not work with them but to substitute them out for another product. They did admit that this may not always be possible with a specific job but they suggested communicating with your chemical supplier for a recommendation on a safer substance. Another safety measure is to have the proper personal protective equipment or PPE when handling cryogenic gases due to the extremely low temperatures they are kept at any contact with the skin could cause serious burn leading to frostbite. In the gas phase they can cause permanent damage to the eyes and other delicate tissue with just a moments exposure. Workers must not only protect their hands from burns but their full bodies as well. The correct workmen personal protective equipment should include: full-face shield, goggles, vinyl gloves specially designed to prevent cryogens from flowing into the gloves, lab coats and high-top closed toed shoes.

When working with cryogenic gases there needs to be proper ventilation to prevent asphyxiation of the workers, and the storage of the containers should not be kept in enclosed spaces. Proper ventilation also reduces the risk of fire or explosion in the workplace. The hoods, ducts, air cleaners, and fans must be made from materials compatible with cryogenic gases where they are being used or stored to avoid any problems.

Cryogenic liquefied gases are stored in heavily insulated containers because they are kept at or near boiling point to keep it in the liquid phase. However, since it is not perfect there is always some gas in the containers. This could become a potentially dangerous situation if too much gas begins to build up in the container due to the large expansion ratio from liquid to gas, creating a buildup of high pressure in the container. Avoidance of this issue is easy with the proper installment and appropriate use of a pressure relief device on the container. Since these devices are so important it is vital to check for leaks on a regular basis.

http://oehs.vcu.edu/chemical/labsafe/cryogenics_safety.pdf

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/cryogens.html

The Handout given in class: Physical Hazards Slides

Blood Borne Pathogens in the Lab

For this blog we examined a lab used for blood borne pathogens. This lab is most commonly BSL 2. It is not under the OSHA standard since it is in a college but there are rules under the OU policy. There are around 13 students in the lab every year and they have to undergo blood borne pathogens training. This lab is under the exercise physiology department. All chemicals here are registered under the government, if they are not registered then they will have to face fines. Also, if they have excess of a certain chemical they have to report it. The lab has to be reapproved every couple years by the university. There are meetings about which chemicals are being stored every quarter when an Environmental Health Science officer inspects the lab. This lab does not have a chemical storage cabinet due to lack of funds, however they are still being stored properly. The chemicals being stored in the fridge are not being stored properly since they are using a normal fridge which is not intrinsically safe. It is not explosion proof and it could have an electrical spark. There was also issues with their disposal of two-part pathogens; they should be disposed every two weeks, however they are disposed here every couple months due to lack of funds. These are sometimes allowed to be dumped down the drain if the concentration is low enough; for this process you must add bleach to it and then dilute with water as you pour it down the drain. The man showing us around told us that he does not enforce personal protective equipment but he tells them too wear it when they first get there. At the end of each lab they always unplug everything. There are many things that go wrong in the lab, some common things are: forgetting to put the lid on the centrifuge which causes the vials to break and the contents to aerosolize. When this happens they must leave the lab for at least ten minutes. Some students also sometimes forget to pour the chemical and bleach mixture with water down the drain, this creates poison gas which requires them to run the water and leave the lab for ten minutes. The lab tables are covered with an adsorbent material that they change very frequently. This lab did not have a drain in the floor so if they ever have to use the eye wash station the water will have nowhere to go and remain stagnant on the ground. The eye wash and shower station are an extension of the sink. There is proper ventilation in this lab where the chemicals can get sucked out of the room. Overall I thought that this lab was in good shape however it did not seem like the professor in charge was enforcing the student’s safety enough which could cause health problems for both the university and the students careers out of college. This could develop into a major problem and needs to be addressed right away.

https://www.osha.gov/

https://www.ohio.edu/policy/numeric.html

Identifying Hazards

Lab safety is something that is in your head, not in any textbook. It is dangerous to not check into the lab mentally while performing a lab procedure. To be safe in the lab you need to be able to properly identify hazards. To identify hazards in any situations it is easier to split them into categories. An important way to identify hazards in the lab is to look at the Chemical Hygiene Program that your company has currently employed. This can normally be found by your Department of Environmental Health and Safety. Another way to identify hazards is by looking at the Blood borne Pathogens Plan.  

A typical chemical hygiene plan consists of general laboratory procedures, chemical acquisition distribution and storage, hazard identification, and many others. The main parts we will focus on to identify hazards are: behavior in the laboratory and hazard identification. It is inappropriate to enact in any horseplay or practical jokes in the laboratory. Workers can also never work alone on a potentially dangerous activity. This last rule also incorporates that a procedure shall not be completed if the reaction is not well understood. People are also not allowed to eat or drink in the laboratory because this could end up being a serious hazard when there are dangerous chemicals in the lab and ingesting them would cause health effects.

To identify hazards the containers need to have a clear and legible label that is not easily removable. Safety Data Sheets should be readily available for all workers to be able to see in the lab. OSHA standards must be followed at all times. When first receiving the new shipment of chemicals you must make sure that you have the proper storage requirements and room available to contain the shipment. This can be best avoided by checking the storage area before placing the order so this problem does not arise.

               Lab hazards can be split into different categories which are dealt with in different ways. Classes of hazardous chemicals are identified in different ways. The level of hazard determines how these materials will be stored and handled throughout the lab process. The storage of these chemicals are classified under the National Fire Prevention Association, (NFPA.) NFPA labels the room with a door posting that separates the chemicals into four categories, fire hazard, health hazard, specific hazard, and reactivity hazard. The first three are ranked one through four, with four being the most dangerous.

               Certain chemicals are classified as particularly hazardous substances, PHSs. These chemicals are ones that pose significant threats to human health. These must have the proper labels on all containers and must be stored in the proper area and in the correct amounts. If an extremely dangerous chemical was stored in too high of an amount it could react badly with nearby chemicals.

               They can also be categorized into nanomaterials, or materials that have an external dimension in the nanoscale. These can both be naturally occurring and can be produced in manufacturing, or Engineered Nanomaterials.   

Relation of OSHA Lab Standards to other Lab Standards

The OSHA Laboratory Standard was out in place to address the safety and health of the workers in the lab. These standards supersede existing OSHA health standards because they are specifically intended for labs, however the general duty clause carries over into the laboratory requiring the employers to free the space from all recognized hazards. These hazards are commonly defined as any hazard you can identify with your senses; an example of a hazard under the general duty clause would be broken glass on the ground. The general duty clause also requires all employees to “comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules.” Other standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Act that transition over to the lab standards are: possible skin or eye contact, standards which set Permissible Exposure Limits or PELS, and lab standards that require exposure monitoring and medical surveillance. PELS are legal limits that were set by OSHA in 1970 and require full compliance. If the PEL is exceeded then proper controls must be implemented to limit the worker’s exposure: personal protective equipment, shorter shifts, engineering controls. There are thousands of chemicals used in industries every day and OSHA does not regulate all of them, some have not even been tested fully. Another limit set by OSHA is the Threshold Limit Value, which control the concentration of substances in the air that workers are subject to day after day so there are no adverse health effects in the short or long-term. The standard is an average over an average eight hour shift for a forty hour work shift.  Another way that OSHA makes sure a worker is in compliance with a certain exposure is by calculating their TWA, or Time Weighted Average, which is when you take the workers exposure multiplied by the time exposed for each segment of time and then divided by the total time. OSHA also has standards for short term sampling called STEL, or Short Term Exposure Limit, which are typically 15 minutes long. However, these STEL standards are only published for compounds with very toxic effects with only acute exposures. OSHA also has ceiling limits implemented for those fast acting compounds that could be more hazardous to workers. Worker exposure should never exceed three times the TWA for no more than a total of thirty minutes for the entire work day.

The OSHA lab standards go deeper into the hazardous substances area with regulations. This is under OSHA Hazcom standards within the workplace. These include: reproductive toxins, carcinogens or cancer causing compounds, and compounds that cause high acute toxicity. For a compound to be regulated as a carcinogen it must be listed as a known carcinogen on the Annual Report on Carcinogens, listed as a group one carcinogen towards humans, and are known to cause significant occurrence of tumors in animals. Reproductive toxins are known to effect the reproductive systems in both males and females after repeated exposure. Chemicals are evaluated, assessed, and then implemented under OSHA. These are all defined under the Chemical Hygiene Plan.