Health and Safety considerations

1. Health and Safety considerations University of Arkansas Ruwaya Alkendi 11/10/2006

2. Introduction • Environmental site characterization studies tasks can be hazardous. • Workers • Public • Property • Equipments • Environment

3. Introduction • Key to safety in the field: • Ability to recognize situations that may produce hazardous conditions and to plan a head to avoid or mitigate these conditions. • A recognized hazard can be established on the bases of: • Industry recognition. • Employer recognition. • Or ‘common sense’ recognition

4. Health and Safety planning • A good plan serves two capacities: • As a proactive accident-prevention plan to delineate site hazards, risks to site workers, hazard monitoring, hazard mitigation, and safe operating procedures. • As a reactive contingency plan to identify procedures to be implemented should something go wrong.

5. Health and Safety planning (Cont.) • A careful site history review or previous monitoring and site characterization activities may minimize the possibility of discovering unknown hazardous materials or unstable conditions. • Always predict the worse !!!

6. Health and Safety planning • Typical areas that should be addressed in the HASP: • 1- Safety staff organization, responsibilities of key personnel, and their alternates. • 2- Safety and health hazard assessment for sit operations (Known or anticipated hazards) • 3- PPE requirements (clothing, respiratory protection) • 4- Methods to assess personal and environmental exposure.

7. Health and Safety planning (Cont.) • 5- Standard operating safety procedures, work practices, and engineering controls. • 6- Site control measures • 7- Personal hygiene and decontamination procedures. • 8- Emergency equipment and medical emergency procedures. • 9- Emergency response plan and contingency procedures. • 10-Logs, reports, and record-keeping. • Safety plan should be signed by all on-site workers.

8. Hazard Identification and classification • Electrical hazards • Electrical wires, buried cables, and generators. • Physical hazards • Unstable slopes, uneven terrain, holes and ditches, steep grades and slippery, mud-cover surfaces. • Noise • Interference with normal communication between workers. • Physical damage: hearing loss.

9. Cont. • Temperature Stress • Heat stress and cold injury. • Radiation hazards • Radioactive materials • Chemical hazards • Toxic, flammable, explosive, reactive, or corrosive materials.

10. Cont. • Biological hazards • Living organisms and their products. • Toxic hazards • Exposure to toxic materials. • Inhalation, skin, eye contact, ingestion, or injection. • Exposure Limits • Control employee inhalation exposure to specific chemical substances in the workplace.

11. Cont. • Confined space hazard • Permit-required confined-space entry requires a training program for participants, a permit system, air monitoring, ventilation, retrieval system, and rescue considerations.

12. Risk minimization • Decrease contact with hazard. • Practicing contamination avoidance and good housekeeping. • Good work practices (Administrative controls). • Engineering controls.

13. Source of information • To assessing potential hazard and determining proper control of a risk: • Reference text. • On-line computer databases (U.S. EPA, National Library of Medicine).

14. Respiratory protection • Respirators: Protect from hazardous contaminants that may be inhaled. • Two types: air-purifying and air- supplying. • Air- purifying: removes contaminants from air by: filtration, absorption, adsorption, or chemical reaction. • Air- Supplying supplies air (e.g. oxygen deficient areas) • Provide a respiratory protection program. • Medical fitness is required.

15. Air Monitoring • Identification and quantification of air contaminants is required in order to select appropriate PPE and define areas where protective equipment is required. • Air monitoring help in determining the effectiveness of mitigative activities.

16. Cont. • Monitor air during drilling operation prevent fire and protect worker from exposure. • Three methods of air monitoring: • 1- Intermittent monitoring: involves readings taken when contaminants present them selves or when there is a change in field conditions. • 2- Semi-continuous monitoring: readings on regular basis. • 3-Continuous monitoring: constantly assesses site conditions.

17. Cont. • Reading instruments: • Combustible gas indicators: measures the risk of fire and explosion from flammable vapors. • Oxygen deficiency meters: assess air for oxygen content to determine if respiratory protection is necessary. • Oxygen deficiency (<19.5%) or oxygen enrichment (>25%). • combustion, contaminants and chemical reactions could be responsible for oxygen deficiency. • Radiation meters: detects the presence of ionizing radiation (alpha, beta, gamma).

18. Cont. • Detector tubes: glass tube filled with an indicating chemical matrix that changes color in the presence of a specific contaminant or type of contaminant. • Length of color change proportional to concentration present. • Multi tube is available to detect more than one contaminant.

19. Cont. • Survey instruments: detect the presence and total concentration of organic gases or vapors in air. • Photoionization detectors: monitoring many organic and some inorganic vapors and gases (UV ionize gas or vapor molecules). • Flame ionization detectors: use hydrogen-fed flame to ionize organic vapors and gases.

20. Protective clothing • PPE decrease exposure to biological and chemical hazards and to shield against physical hazards. • PPE protects: respiratory system, eye, skin, face, hands, feet, body and hearing. • U.S. EPA level of protection (A,B,C, and D). • Disposable clothing are advisable.

21. Site Operations • Establish work zone to protect site workers and minimize risk of injury. • Minimizing exposure to hazardous materials include: • Eliminate unnecessary personnel, workers & equipments onsite. • Establishment security & physical barriers. • Establishment of work zone and control points to regulate access to the site.

22. Cont. • Implementation of an appropriate contamination avoidance program to reduce personnel and equipment exposure to contamination and minimize air borne dispersion of contamination. • Contamination reduction zone that buffers between contaminated areas and clean areas (decontamination station). • Support zone (support equipments, trailers and parking areas).

23. Drilling techniques • Most drilling equipments are source of ignition! • Ways to reduce the effect of drilling equipments: • Use air rotary rig utilizing a compressor: reduce ignition. • Auger rigs allow for using dry ice around auger base.

24. Cont. • Mud-rotary drilling (suppress vapors and ignition sources). • Inerting and purging (introducing of non flammable gas). • Portable ventilation devices (blowers). • Vertical exhausts and spark arrestors.

25. Medical Monitoring • Medical program must be provided to all employees including who wear respirators for 30 or more days during a 12-month interval. • Medical tests and complete records are done by a physician based on the info. Provided by the employer. • Medical exams: • Initial base line medical exam (medical history). • Life style section (augment exposures to hazardous) • Heat stress and stress test. • Medical screening test • Specialized tests (known hazards) • Periodic exams (yearly) • Exit exam.

26. HAZWOPER • Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Rule. • The rule covers: • Clean-up operations at government-identified uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. • Clean-up operations conducted under the RCRA. • Emergency responses for releases or substantial threats of releases of hazardous materials or hazardous wastes.

27. Training requirements • Training requirement for all workers working in the hazardous waste sites. • 40h for workers in uncontrolled hazardous material sites. • 24h for workers performing routine operations at RCRA facilities, hazard identified sites or respiratory protection is not required. • Training types: • Overview training • Discipline-intensive training • Site-specific training

28. General Safety and Liability Considerations • Site safety plan: (1980s) single document addressing all tasks and operations performed on the site. Early 1990s the plan is prepared as a bid. • OSHA act 1970: • Employer should furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees • Should comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act.

29. Cont. • Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct. • Supervisor, inspector, and observer. • Supervisor: who oversees employees from his own company. • Inspector: performs QA/QC functions. • Observer: on site to report deficiencies or problems to the owner.

30. Cont. • Prequalification of subcontractors with good safety histories and records of adhering to both technical and safety specifications minimize the shutdown of a job. • Familiarity with all appropriate federal, state, and industry standards.