40 HAZWOPER Training

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response 40 hour HAZWOPER Training

40 Hour HAZWOPER Waste Site Hazard Recognition Part 1

Introduction

Upon completion of hazard recognition in the 40 HAZWOPER course, the participant will know what conditions in the waste-site work environment could result in worker hazards and the importance of accident or exposure prevention.

Defining Hazard Risk and Safety

The whole purpose for identifying hazards at a 40 hazwoper waste site is to keep the worker safe while on the job. A common definition of safety is "freedom from danger or harm." In reality, nothing is completely safe, but we can always make a situation safer by being aware of the hazards involved and taking steps to protect workers. Hazard is defined as any substance, situation, or condition that is capable of harming human health, property, or the environment. A hazard represents a potential for harm. A potential hazard, however, does NOT indicate how serious the harm might be or how likely it may be for harm to occur. For example, a direct hit by a meteorite is a potential hazard of life on earth. This says nothing about the seriousness or the likelihood of harm. Risk is defined as a measure of the probability and severity of a hazard to harm human health, property, or the environment. Risk is a measure of how likely harm is to occur and an indication of how serious the harm might be if it does. The severity of a direct hit on you by a meteorite is quite great but the probability of this happening is very low. Thus the risk is very low. Safety may be defined as a judgment of the acceptability of risk. That is, once we have identified a hazard and estimated how risky it is, we make a judgment about whether we can accept that level of risk or whether something needs to be done to lower the risk, if possible. The 40 hour hazwoper Site Health and Safety Officer is responsible for thoroughly addressing safety during planning. The officer must also ensure that workers are made aware of the hazard/safety issues as well as any technologies, work practices, or PPE that are required to protect them during a particular activity. The protective methods must be identified in the site-specific HASP.

Job Hazard Analysis

One model that can be utilized for 40 hazwoper hazard recognition is a job hazard or job safety analysis (JSA). A 40 hour hazwoper JSA assesses thepotential hazards posed by doing a specific task. The assessment protects workers by resulting in further training, engineering or administrative controls, proper work practices, or proper selection of PPE. To accomplish a thorough JSA, the following steps are necessary:

1. Identify the site tasks that have the potential for injury or illness. It might be necessary to focus on those with the greatest potential hazards first.

2. Have the supervisor and the worker who performs the task list the steps involved, from start to finish, in as much detail as necessary to identify accurately, the possible hazards.

3. Using the steps listed, identify potential hazards associated with each step.

4. From the hazards identified at each step, determine the best method of protection: engineering or administrative controls, work practices, and PPE. JSA should provide an identification of the hazards associated with a particular task and the practice or process to protect the worker. It also creates a record, which can be included in the Health and Safety Plan. The 40 hazwoper JSA can be used in training to ensure that the worker is made aware of the hazards of a task, of anystanding orders that apply, and of how they are expected to protect themselves.

Chemical Hazard Identification Systems

Exposure to toxic chemicals is a great concern at 40 HAZWOPER sites, although these days more injuries occur to workers from hazards other than chemicals. This may be a result of good prior planning, including the identification of potential hazards. Commonly used identification systems that help in recognizing potential chemical hazards are NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) signage on buildings and DOT (Department of Transportation) package labels.

NFPA 704 SYSTEM

The NFPA marking system involves the identification of three areas of concern to first responders, as they may need to enter a building or area to respond to a potential fire situation. Each area of concern is identified by a color and takes up one fourth of a diamond shaped sign; the fourth quarter, which is white, is reserved for noting special hazard situations. Each colored area contains a number ranging from 0 to 4 representing the degree of danger for that area. A rating of 4 indicates the highest level of concern. The 40 hour HAZWOPER training is divided into 98 modules.

40 Hour HAZWOPER Agenda

40 HAZWOPER Course Registration

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