1. Special Waste Associates
Design For Safety
Considerations for Improving the Design and Operation of your HHW/CESQG
Collection Facility
NW NAHMMA Conference
Spokane, September 2012
By David Nightingale
Special Waste Associates

2. 1st - Why worry about safety?
Employee Impacts
Ethical responsibility to employees for safe workplace
Improve workplace comfort, productivity, and morale
Risk Management
Improve insurance loss prevention, and possibly lower premiums
Reduce likelihood of environmental release and associated costs of cleanup
Reduce time lost, medical and labor expenses
Avoid OSHA fines
Avoid loss or damage to building

3. Presentation
General concepts that are important based on experience of HHW operations which can degrade or promote safety
Selected safety survey results
Specific examples of what can go wrong

4. Interaction of Administration, Design, Operations and Equipment for Safety

5. Common Hazards at HHW Collections
Chemical Health Hazards
Hazardous vapors and other chemical exposure
Physical Hazards (most common injury types)
Slip, Trips and Falls
Moving vehicles
Repetitive motion injuries
Heavy or awkward loads
Potentially explosive atmospheres from evaporation of flammable liquids

6. Weather and Environmental Conditions are Important

7. Estimate of HHW exposure risk of full time work (160 hrs/mo
Estimate of HHW exposure risk of full time work (160 hrs/mo.) over 10 years
Bill Lewry “Conclusions from Previous Survey” national HHW list serv 3/13/2007.

8. Largest Exposure Pathway - Lungs
Huge surface area biologically designed to allow vapors to directly enter the bloodstream
Operationally, most frequently liberate significant quantities of flammable liquid vapors during bulking/consolidation into 55-gallon drums

9. Study of solvent and flammables bulking operations at 12 US Universities
Measured 45 VOCs and compared area monitoring contaminant levels with personal contaminant levels for workers bulking liquids (e.g., benzene, chlorobenzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, methylene chloride, xylene, etc.)
70% of worker exposures were higher than room monitors indicated
“17% of personal samples exceeded OSHA time weighted average or ceiling limit values… It is concluded that the most frequently necessary safeguard is respiratory protection, preferably supplied air type. The use of local exhaust ventilation systems over dilution or natural systems, and operation of the facilities in a totally explosion safe manner, are also recommended.
Ryan, Timothy J., Survey of Waste Comminglers' VOC Exposures, Ohio University,
Journal of Air & Waste Management Association, November, 2002.

10. Can you identify the Hazard and Opportunity for Improvement?

11. Heavy, awkward drum handling risks strain injury, falling heavy object

12. Trip hazard, sloped working surface handling of heavy drums, lost workspace

13. Awkward repetitive motion, puncture wound hazard, very time consuming

14. Unsorted HHW can lead to unplanned chemical reactions of incompatibles

15. Lack of protection from blown precipitation leads to water hazard

16. Winter weather can reduce capacity of uncovered spill containment

17. Uneven surface = step hazard

18. Receiving area oil spill on asphalt soaks into pavement (and soils below? )

19. Ventilation pulling air and vapors up and through the breathing zones of the worker.

20. Air Purifying Respirator is only allowed when engineering controls infeasible

21. Static Discharge Avoidance is a best practice for ignition control, but does not prevent accumulation of explosive concentrations of flammable vapors

22. Before: Wooden trusses with fire resistant paint and no fire sprinklers

23. After the fire…

24. Take Away Worker comfort and safety is related to:
improved operating efficiencies,
less opportunity to experience losses of personnel and infrastructure, and
improved employee morale

25. Any Questions??? Thank you!! David Nightingale, dnight@cco.net
Special Waste Associates
Olympia WA (360)