Hazardous waste is not a subject to be taken lightly. Improper handling of hazardous waste at any point from transportation to storage to disposal can lead to serious and potentially lethal consequences for the handlers of the waste material. Because of the serious nature of hazardous waste, OSHA takes your company’s hazardous waste operations very seriously. As a result, standard 1910.120, dubbed HAZWOPER (short for hazardous waste operations and emergency response), was created. This standard covers the cleanup, transportation, storage, handling, and disposal of all hazardous waste materials.

HAZWOPER needs to be an integral part of the Emergency Action Plan for any company which deals with hazardous materials. The HAZWOPER plan should include the policy for reporting hazards to the safety and management teams, as well as any applicable state or local authorities. Further, this plan needs to discuss who is permitted access the hazardous areas and the locations where hazardous materials are stored, the frequency with which these team members have access, the medical screenings performed, the regularity of the screenings. It also needs to discuss in detail the containment devices utilized for the hazardous waste, the transportation procedures for moving the hazardous waste, and the disposal procedures for the waste. There are very clear and well defined procedures for each of these requirements.

If you have any questions about your HAZWOPER procedures, it is important to have a qualified third party review your Emergency Action Plan and audit your workplace. And if you need any help with updating or instituting your procedures, please contact us. If you have anything to add about HAZWOPER, please leave a comment.