The world can be a dangerous place especially when you are working with hazardous materials. According to OSHA over 5,000 workers died on the job in 2019. Many of these deaths were from working with hazardous materials.
If you work with hazardous materials you need to make sure you are staying safe by implementing chemical safety procedures.
Use the following safety tips to make sure that you are covered when working around dangerous chemical products.
1. Use Safety Data Sheets
A safety data sheet tells you all you need to know about a specific hazardous material. It also tells you how to handle a hazardous substance safely.
An S.D.S. tells you what types of mitigation measures are needed in the event of a spill or accident. Safety data sheets can also give you a good idea about what kind of P.P.E. you need to wear when working around a substance.
2. Use Proper P.P.E.
Having the right personal protective equipment or P.P.E. is essential when working with and around hazardous materials. Each hazardous material you work with requires its specific types of P.P.E.
From protective hazmat suits to things like rubber gloves, respirators, and eye protection make sure you have the proper P.P.E.
Do some research about the hazmat you are working with to determine what P.P.E. is the most appropriate for your specific situation.
3. Create a Culture of Safety
You need to develop a culture of safety in your workplace. That way when your workers deal with things such as hazardous materials they will already have a set of standards and practices they can use to avoid potential accidents.
4. Have Emergency Responders on Standby
If your organization uses hazardous materials often as part of its day-to-day operations you may want to consider having an in-house team of emergency responders.
Make sure that your medical personnel specializes in treating injuries sustained by chemical products and other hazardous materials.
If you can’t afford an in-house safety team or choose not to have one, make sure that you know what local emergency authorities have the capabilities of responding to an incident.
Also, make sure that your employees know which emergency responders to call in the event of an accident.
If your emergency response plan involves calling 911, make sure that the employee activating the emergency response knows what hazardous materials to report to the dispatcher.
This can all be found in your safety data sheets so make sure to keep these handy at all times for your employees to reference.
5. Adopt New Safety Tips Through Experience
Safety is a fluid dynamic of your operations. You need to be able to adapt your safety plan and adopt new safety tips as you learn them. Each mishap with hazardous materials provides new learning experiences and yields new tips.
Staying Safe Is Important
Hazardous materials can ruin and end lives if they are handled incorrectly. Make sure that your employees know how to work with them safely to avoid accidents. Also, make sure they know what to do when an accident occurs.
You can do this by incorporating all of the safety tips found in this article. Apply these safety tips today to make your workplace a more safe environment. For all your other news and info make sure to check out the rest of our page.