Industries today use highly
hazardous materials and they are an ever presence source of potential danger while transporting, using and storing it. To have insufficient knowledge about the hazardous waste can be a risk to the environment and if it is not properly handled then it may even take the lives of people. Therefore, for making the workplace and environment safe there are various certifications available on how to deal with the hazardous waste effectively.
There are various government agencies and departments like the DOT (Department of Transportation), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). All of them has equally important role to play in ensuring health and safety enforcement in U.S. The DOT regulates the transportation of the hazardous materials (hazmat); the EPA regulates hazardous materials which can negatively impact the environment. The CPSC takes care of the hazardous materials that may go into household and consumer goods.
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is involved with regulation of hazardous chemicals to ensure safety in the workplace. Hazardous materials are taken care through the Process of Safety Management (PSM) 29 CFR 1910.119 standard. It also regulates the hazardous waste clean-up operations and also the emergencies that arises from the hazmat related incidents through the OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1910.120.
HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Respond) Standard became effective on March 6, 1990. The HAZWOPER 1910.120 standard includes;
Voluntary clean-up operations that are required by the governmental body, conducted at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
Clean-up operations which is required by the governmental body, conducted at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
Emergency response operations that involve substantial threats those involving hazardous substances, without regard to the physical location of the site.
Corrective actions that involve clean-up operations at sites covered by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Operations that involve hazardous wastes which are conducted at treatment, storage and disposal facilities that compatible to the RCRA regulation.
As HAZWOPER standard deals with the hazardous waste operations and emergency response situations, necessarily requires a certain level of knowledge on the part of employees. There are various OSHA approved
HAZWOPER certification courses available such as; 40 hour HAZWOPER training, 24 hour HAZWOPER training, 8 hour HAZWOPER training all depending upon the type of hazards being dealt with. Good news is, today there are many private organizations which offer OSHA safety training programs to the employees who are working directly or indirectly with the hazardous materials.
