Congratulations! You have just become the safety manager for Podunk University. Your position is at the campus in Podunk, Colorado, and your predecessor left the job a year and a half ago. There has been nobody in the position during that interval. The commitment of the institution to safety is dubious at best, but, well, you needed a job, so here you are.
After introducing yourself to the secretary who also supports a half dozen more senior people, you decide to focus on hazardous material and hazardous waste issues since you just completed a great college course on those topics. You tour the campus and discover that the following departments and programs are your responsibility:
the biology department, which has animal dissection, human dissection, a microbiology lab, and a medical laboratory education program that uses small quantities of chemicals; ·
the chemistry department, which has uninventoried chemicals dating back to who knows when and a new forensics program;
the physics department, which has high-voltage equipment, lasers, and LEDs;
the English department, which has a lot of books, papers, and photocopiers;
the math department, which has a lot of computers and whiteboards;
the automotive technology department, which has everything pertaining to auto repair including solvents, asbestos brake linings, pneumatic tools, waste oil, and cutting and grinding tools; and
the Massive Arena, one of the original buildings on campus, which has a variety of interesting problems, including asbestos insulation and a major ongoing renovation.
With the thought of developing a plan to ensure workplace compliance with hazard material management standards and recommending actions needed to implement an effective workplace hazardous materials management program, respond to each of the questions below.
Where do you start?
Where should you focus your initial HazCom efforts? In what order do you tackle the rest of the departments?
What are the HazCom issues in the automotive technology department?
What are the hazardous waste issues in the automotive technology department?
What are the HazCom issues in the chemistry department?
What are the hazardous waste issues in the chemistry department?
With the Massive Arena renovation, who are the people to whom you need to communicate hazards?
What are your main concerns with the physics department?
What are the hazardous material/waste spill response issues for the university, and how should you prepare for them?
Is any HazCom training needed for the English and math departments?
What are some resources for finding out how to solve the HazCom issues?
Sample Solution