FACILITY
PLAN MATCH-UPS WITH RESPONSE INTENT
All industrial facilities must determine what specific plans are
necessary for their site in order to meet all regulatory
requirements. Once all plan requirements have been determined, the
level of emergency response actions must be decided by facility
management.
OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)
standard defines first responders on five different levels with
specific training requirements for each level. The levels include
Awareness, Operations, Hazardous Materials Technician, Hazardous
Material Specialist and the On Scene Incident Commander.
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The Awareness Level personnel are individuals who are likely to witness or discover a hazardous substance release and who have been
trained to initiate an emergency response sequence by notifying
proper authorities of the release.
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Emergency responders at the Operations Level include individuals
who respond to releases or potential release of hazardous substances
as part of the initial response to the site for the purpose of
protecting nearby persons, property or the environment from the
effects of the release. They are trained to respond in a defensive
fashion without actually trying to stop the release. These
Operations level personnel contain the release from a safe distance,
keep it from spreading and prevent exposure.
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The Hazardous Materials Technician is trained to respond to
releases for the purpose of actually stopping the release. They
assume a more aggressive role than a first responder at the
Operations level in that they will approach the point of release in
order to plug, patch or otherwise stop the release of a hazardous
substance.
First responders at the Awareness level are required to demonstrate
competency in understanding what hazardous substance are, the risks
associated with them and the need for additional resources. Training
requirements for the Operations level personnel includes eight (8)
hours of OSHA training while the Hazardous Materials Technician
shall have at least 24 hours of OSHA training. Those acting in a
supervisory capacity must have additional hours of training.
Facility personnel that are designated as emergency responders and
all other employees need to know what is required of them during an
emergency situation. If your emergency plans indicate that your
personnel will respond in any way to the emergency, these employees
must be properly trained and know what is expected of them.
Do you know what level of emergency response your facility emergency
plans require of your employees? Is each of your plans consistent
regarding emergency response? Have you provided the adequate
training for your facility personnel to meet the written plan? CTI
can help with all emergency plan preparation, modifications and
personnel training.
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