If your company handles hazardous waste in any capacity, it is important to ensure that your facility is compliant with OSHA Standard 1910.120. Standard 1910.120 covers HAZWOPER (hazardous waste operations and emergency response). This important standard helps protect employees who handle or work near hazardous materials.

This standard specifically covers the storage, handling, transportation, disposal, and cleanup of all hazardous materials. A HAZWOPER plan must be in place in applicable facilities, and should, at a minimum, include policies for reporting hazardous materials to management, local authorities, and local law enforcement, policies for the storage of hazardous materials, and the processes in place surrounding the transportation of these materials. The plan should also include policies relating to who has access to areas with hazardous materials, the locations of the hazardous materials, the frequency with which these individuals have access to the hazardous materials, the medical screenings performed for these individuals, and the frequency of the screenings performed.

An effective HAZWOPER plan should cover every step of the lifecycle of hazardous material while it is in your company’s control. If you cannot track hazardous material from the time it enters your control to the moment you get rid of it, then there is something wrong. If you need help in finalizing a plan, we recommend having an audit of the plan completed.

If you have any questions about HAZWOPER guidelines, or if you would like to have your HAZWOPER plan audited, please contact us. If you have anything to add about HAZWOPER, please leave a comment.