Jeremy Williams of GCAP Interviews Bryan Haywood of Safety Engineering Network.  Bryan is founder and President of SAFTENG.net and an Adjunct Instructor at University of Cincinnati.

A safety professional with over 20 years of experience in safety and emergency response. During my career, Bryan developed, implemented, and managed chemical process safety management systems for five Fortune 500 companies, of which four facilities achieved OSHA VPP status. Bryan has held positions ranging from Safety Engineer to Corporate Safety and Health Manager with Westvaco, Great Lakes Chemical, General Electric Plastics, BFGoodrich Specialty Chemicals, and SUMCO Phoenix Corporation. Bryan has extensive experience with Emergency Planning and Response in Fire, HAZMAT, Confined Space, High-Angle Rescue. Bryan maintain all my certifications in these area and have obtained over 6,000 hours of technical training in Industrial Firefighting, Hazardous Materials and Technical Rescue (Confined Space, Trench, High-Angle), and Incident Command from recognized training organizations such as Texas A&M’s National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, Louisiana State University Fire and Emergency Training Institute, U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy, Security and Emergency Response Training Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex.

Incidental Release vs

Emergency Response

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=3671&p_table=DIRECTIVES#APPA

APPENDIX A

RELEASES OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES THAT REQUIRE AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE

The function of this appendix is to present a discussion of the distinction between incidental releases of hazardous substances and releases that require an emergency response, and, therefore, compliance with the provisions of 1910.120(q)., Emergency response program to hazardous substance releases.

An understanding of the distinction between an incidental release of a hazardous substance and a release that requires an emergency response is fundamental to proper compliance with the provisions of 29 CFR 1910.120(q). Emergency response operations for releases of, or substantial threats of releases of, hazardous substances without regard to the location of the hazard, (29 CFR 1910.120(a)(1)(v)), was written to cover a wide array of facilities and situations.

Potential releases of hazardous substances in the workplace can be categorized into three distinct groups in terms of the planning provisions of 1910.120(q). These groups are:

1. Releases that are clearly incidental regardless of the circumstances.

2. Releases that may be incidental or may require an emergency response depending on the circumstances.

3. Releases that clearly require an emergency response regardless of the circumstances.

Releases that Are Clearly Incidental

The scope of the HAZWOPER standard does not cover the foreseeable release of a hazardous substance that is limited in quantity and poses no emergency or significant threat to the safety and health of employees in the immediate vicinity. This type of release is referred to as an “incidental release” in 29 CFR 1910.120(a)(3), under the definition of “emergency response.”

An incidental release is a release of a hazardous substance which does not pose a significant safety or health hazard to employees in the immediate vicinity or to the employees cleaning it up, nor does it have the potential to become an emergency within a short time frame. Incidental releases are limited in quantity, exposure potential, or toxicity and present minor safety or health hazards to employees in the immediate work area or those assigned to clean them up.

If the hazardous substances that are in the work area are always stored in very small quantities, such as a laboratory which handles amounts in pint size down to test tubes, and the hazardous substances do not pose a significant safety and health threat at that volume, then the risks of having a release that escalates into an emergency are minimal. In this setting incidental releases will generally be the norm and employees will be trained to protect themselves in handling incidental releases as per the training requirements of the Hazard Communication standard (HCS), 29 CFR 1910.1200.

Another example is a tanker truck receiving a load of HAZMAT at a tanker truck loading station. At the time of an accidental spill, the product can be contained by employees in the immediate vicinity and cleaned up utilizing absorbent without posing a threat to the safety and health of employees. As such, the employer may respond to certain incidental releases.

A third example of an incidental release may include maintenance personnel who are repairing a small leak that resulted from a routine maintenance activity and the small leak can be readily repaired; or the leak does not need to be taken care of immediately, i.e., the safety and health of the employees are not threatened if an immediate response is not initiated.

These situations describe an “incidental spill” under HAZWOPER. An incidental spill poses an insignificant threat to health or safety, and may be safely cleaned up by employees who are familiar with the hazards of the chemicals with which they are working.

Releases that May Be Incidental or Require an Emergency Response,

Depending on the Circumstances

The properties of hazardous substances, such as toxicity, volatility, flammability, explosiveness, corrosiveness, etc., as well as the particular circumstances of the release itself, such as quantity, confined space considerations, ventilation, etc., will have an impact on what employees can handle safely and what procedures should be followed. Additionally, there are other factors that may mitigate the hazards associated with a release and its remediation, such as the training or experience of the employees in the immediate work area, the response and PPE at hand, and the pre-established standard operating procedures for responding to releases of hazardous substances. There are also some engineering control measures that will mitigate the release that employees can activate to assist them in controlling and stopping the release.

These considerations (properties of the hazardous substance, the circumstances of the release, and the mitigating factors in the work area) combine to define the distinction between incidental releases and releases that require an emergency response. The distinction is site-specific and its impact is a function of the ERP.

For example, a spill of the solvent toluene in a facility that manufactures toluene may not require an emergency response because of the advanced knowledge of the personnel in the immediate vicinity and equipment available to absorb and clean up the spill. However, the same spill inside a furniture refinishing shop with personnel that have had only the basic hazard communication training on toluene, may require an emergency response by more highly trained personnel. The furniture refinishing shop’s ERP in this case would call for evacuation for all but the most minor spills, while evacuation and emergency response would be necessary only for much larger spills at the chemical manufacturing facility.

Personnel responding to an overturned aircraft leaking jet fuel would likely be performing emergency response due to the significant and uncontrolled hazards posed by the aircraft and jet fuel. These personnel would be conducting operations such as fire fighting, passenger rescue, and working to stop the release of jet fuel. However, a fuel spill from a tanker truck that can be absorbed, neutralized, or otherwise controlled by employees in the immediate release area through the placement of absorbent pads may qualify as an incidental release, provided that there are no significant health or safety hazards. (Note: If the release of jet fuel is covered by 40 CFR 300, the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), an employer may be required by the EPA to follow H