Staging - Overview of Staging Areas

Depending on the site, there may be more than one staging area. The number of staging areas depend upon various circumstances on the site, such as the following:

• The scope of the operation
• The accessibility of drums in their original positions
• The perceived hazards of the drums or containers

In its "Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response" manual, OSHA notes that investigation (which you learned about earlier in the unit) usually requires little to no staging. However, emergency operations may require much more extensive staging.

OSHA provides an example of possible staging areas on a hazardous waste site:

• Initial staging area (where drums can be organized by type, size, and possible contents and stored before sampling begins)
• Opening area (where drums are opened, sampled, and resealed)
• Second staging area (also known as a holding area, where drums are temporarily stored after sampling, pending characterization of their contents)
• Final staging area (also known as a bulking area, where substances that have been characterized are bulked for transport to treatment or disposal facilities)

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