Worker Training for Protection During High-Hazard Emergency Operations

On its webpage Emergency Preparedness: Getting Started, OSHA reminds us that emergency response organizations should work with employers to "ensure they are prepared to respond to and safely perform rescue operations as needed at worksites that may pose unique or particularly hazardous conditions for emergency responders." This may include preparing and training for response and rescue operations at steep angles or heights or slopes, such as following:

• Pits
• Tanks
• Manholes
• Boilers
• Furnaces
• Silos
• Hoppers
• Vaults
• Pipes
• Ducts
• Bins
• Communication towers or other tall structures, including those under construction
• Confined spaces, trenches, or underground

Employers may need to select and provide workers with PPE discussed in this section, such as respirators and cartridges. They might also need to special safety harnesses, ropes, or cables.

OSHA reminds us that "as always, PPE should be used as the final level of protection in the hierarchy of engineering (such as ventilating equipment, barriers, shields) and administrative controls and safer work practices."

To learn more about HAZWOPER visit our HAZWOPER 40 Hour Online Training web page.