Definition of hazardous chemical and OSHA's MSDS

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, drugs and alcohol remain a significant occupational safety issue for employers across the country. The legal environment is rapidly changing for many drugs, and additional drug use and/or drug impairments has found its way into the workplace. While the height of the opioid epidemic has receded, media reports high levels of overdoses due to synthetic opioids (e.g. fentanyl). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overdose deaths at work from non-medical use of drugs or alcohol increased by at least 25% annually between 2013 and 2017. The 272 workplace overdose deaths reported in 2017 accounted for 5.3% of occupational injury deaths.
Marijuana remains a Schedule I Controlled Substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, meaning that its possession is unlawful under federal law. Yet on January 1, 2020, Illinois became the eleventh state to legalize adult use of recreational cannabis. Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico permit residents to use medical marijuana, while at least 17 other states allow the use of products of certain products with lower levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in marijuana.
Employment-based drug testing services have reported wide-spread increases in positivity rates for marijuana in those states that have legalized marijuana. Additional legalizations of recreational marijuana likely will create additional workplace impairments across the county.
Challenges Posed by Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace Drug and alcohol impairments can hinder employee judgment and motor skills. These effects can result in near misses, accidents, injuries, and property damage. Accidents may injure employees, coworkers, contractors, and members of the public. In our practice, we have seen significant employee injuries where impaired employees have errantly turned a powered industrial truck, removed a guard on an operational machine, detached a personal fall arrest system while working on a platform 80 feet in the air, and walked in front of a piece of heavy machinery.
Safety hazards are just the tip of the iceberg. Drug and alcohol impairments can result in poor performance, workplace mistakes, reduced output, and poor morale. Employees may be more likely to engage in theft or shift workloads to other employees. Impairment increases the likelihood of sexual harassments in the workplace, in all of its forms, including sexual assault. Impairments are correlated with workplace violence incidents, including physical assaults on employees.
Employers would be wise to recognize the risks posed by drugs and alcohol to the workplace, and take action to address the hazard through a comprehensive program and testing regime.
Prevalence of Drug Addiction As you know, many Americans use drugs and alcohol in a casual, recreational setting. However, it is well understood that individuals can form physical, chemical addictions to virtually all forms of drugs, legal and illegal. After nicotine, alcoholism is the most common chemical addiction among Americans. According to the National Safety Council, approximately 1 in 13 working adults has an alcohol use disorder. Among working adults, nearly 2% were addicted to marijuana. Workers in construction and extraction experience the highest rates of substance use disorders, with 15.6% of employees on average living with a substance use disorder. The highest rate of prescription pain medication disorders were among people in the services sector.
Under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5), the criteria for drug addiction emphasizes continued use of the drug despite the user’s knowledge of adverse consequences. Perhaps on account of this phenomena, physical addiction is the major driver of workplace drug use and impairment. Yet one of the least understood components of workplace drug and alcohol programs is how to deal with employee addiction.
Crafting Drug and Alcohol Policies Safety sensitive employees are those individuals for whom a drug or alcohol impairment could significantly endanger their safety or the safety of others. Safety sensitive employees typically perform functions like driving trucks, operating heavy equipment, or mixing caustic chemicals (this list is non-exhaustive). Safety professionals recommend zero tolerance policies for impairing drugs for those in safety sensitive positions. Zero tolerance means that employers would not tolerate drug use or impairment at any level for those employees. Employers may lawfully implement zero tolerance policies and prohibit possession, use, impairment, or distribution in the workplace.
Zero tolerance policies will have numerous components. One of the most overlooked components of a policy is the definition of prohibited drugs -- we recommend that clients proscribe controlled substances, synthetic drugs, analogs, and popular non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBD. Managers should be trained on how to spot someone impaired by drugs and alcohol. Impairment can be assessed or confirmed through drug testing. Drug testing can also be a helpful tool in a post-incident context, to help determine the root cause of an incident.
Alleged violations of a drug and alcohol policy should be subject to comprehensive investigation. We recommend appropriate disciplinary policies, to be applied consistently across the workforce. As explained above, safety professionals recommend that employers use zero tolerance policies to reduce the likelihood of accidents or injuries. However, zero tolerance does not mean that every employee who violates the policy must be immediately discharged. Rather, many employers may use Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and other resources to help employees with addiction issues take a break from the workplace, treat their addiction, and return to work.
Employees are valuable in terms of human capital, knowledge, experience, and training; substance abuse can be a temporary condition overcome with treatment and/or psychological counseling. Accordingly, as mental health issues have been increasingly destigmatized, many employers are using EAP as a lawful and helpful solution to addiction and substance abuse.
Disability Protections Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) specifically permits employers to ensure that the workplace is free from the illegal use of drugs and the use of alcohol. Generally speaking, the ADA does not prevent employers from prohibiting the use, impairment, and possession of alcohol and drugs, as well as paraphernalia in the workplace under federal and state law. An employer may discharge or deny employment to persons who currently engaged in the illegal use of drugs, or are under the influence of alcohol.
However, the ADA protects employees with mental and physical disabilities -- including mental health disabilities, depression, alcoholism, and drug addiction. Current users of illegal drugs are not protected under the ADA. Casual users of illegal drugs and alcohol are not protected under the ADA, as they are not “substantially limited” in a major life activity from drug use. The ADA creates a limited protection from discrimination for (1) employees who are recovering drug abusers and for alcoholics, (2) employees who have been successfully rehabilitated and who are no longer engaged in the illegal use of drugs or inappropriate use of legal drugs or alcohol, (3) employees who are currently participating in a rehabilitation program and are no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs or the inappropriate use of legal drugs or alcohol, and (4) employees who are erroneously regarded as illegally using drugs or abusing alcohol.
These employees are protected from discrimination by their employer on the basis of a history of drug addiction, attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings, or similar. Employers may not hold drug addicts or alcoholics to a higher standard of performance or attendance. Employers cannot subject employees to medical inquiries (unless they are “job related and consistent with business necessity”) such as inquiries about a personal history of mental illness or alcoholism. However, an employer does not violate the ADA when it engages in reasonable suspicion, post-accident, or return-to-duty drug testing.
The ADA creates a duty to engage in an “interactive process” with employees who raise a disability and find a “reasonable accommodation” where possible accommodate their disability. If a recovering drug addict is not currently illegally using drugs (or abusing legal drugs or alcohol), then he or she may be entitled to reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodations may include a modified work schedule so the employee could attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings or a leave of absence so the employee could seek treatment. However, it goes without saying that there is no duty to accommodate an employee by permitting drug or alcohol impairment at work. Nor does the employer have to forgive misconduct because the misconduct resulted from alcoholism or drug addiction.
Takeaways Drugs and alcohol create unique challenges in the work environment. In the post-COVID pandemic world with many employees working from home, it may be harder to ensure that employees comply and do not engage in drug use or impairment while at work. To minimize liabilities, employers should develop robust drug and alcohol policies. Many employers work with outside counsel to create lawful policies and drug testing programs. If faced with drug-related accidents, employers should consider promptly contacting counsel to prepare a response and properly assert their defenses.
NOTE: If you wish to receive complimentary copies of this article and future articles on OSHA and employment law related topics, please contact Mark A. Lies, II at [email protected] or Adam R. Young at [email protected] to be added to the address list.
Mark A. Lies, II is a Labor and Employment Law attorney and Partner with Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Mr. Lies can be contacted at 312-460-5877 or [email protected].
Adam R. Young is an attorney in the Workplace Safety and Environmental Group in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Mr. Young can be contacted at [email protected] or 312-460-5538.

Plan and platform draft one

Hi guys, in the post where I asked what we need to do as a movement someone stated we needed more direction. I personally agreed so I decided to draft a very general platform and plan on what we must do to grow our movement. Feel free to criticize it and point out things that should be changed or added. Also i found a wiki how to on what is actually required to make a political party. https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Political-Party
without further ado

We the National Organization for a Monarchist America do convene in full confidence of our beliefs this declaration of goals and a plan in which to achieve them. First, a historical context must be given for our movement. During the first constitutional convention several founding fathers, notably Alexander Hamilton, passed around the idea of the USA having a king as the leading head of state and executive branch. While this idea never came to fruition as it is plain to see, it set much of the founding principles of US government. Mainly being the powerful executive branch and the conduct regarding it. It is easy to understand why those early Americans would be against a king. Too much like old Britain, even though it was parliament and not King George who was responsible for the intolerable acts. However, things have changed greatly as a country. The political parties meant to represent the people have corrupted their purpose and now only seek to empower themselves. So, with this context in place we shall now list our demands.
We seek the establishment of a monarchy and to sever the executive branch from the vile reach of political parties. While noble in intention, the election of a head of state from partisan candidates has resulted in the corruption and degeneration of the institution. Party candidates no longer represent the whole of the people. Rather they represent their party interests and only appease the voters enough so that they confirm the rules legitimacy in the ballot box. A monarchy with no partisan interest is free to represent all Americans equally without having to appeal to a voter block. He or she can rule based off of logic and moral judgement.
We seek not only the reaffirming of our constitution but of its clarification and expansion. The constitution is the supreme law of the land and it rules even our government. But now our leaders wish to cherry pick the constitution to fit political agenda. We also have amendments that have been added and should be fully integrated into the constitution. We must as a society reform and clarify our sacred law. We must clarify the bill of rights as to make sure they are foolproof. We should also expand upon the bill of rights to include more things that have come about in modern era. These would include things such as; healthcare, stability, transparency, essential utilities, and more.
We seek to reverse the trend of the federal government becoming increasingly more powerful at the expense of the states. Ever since the civil war the federal government has grown continuously larger and has taken more powers previously reserved to the states. While much good has come from this in the form of consistent standards, the states have not been properly compensated their lost powers. For this reason, the senate should return to being the dominion of the states. Whereas senators are appointed by state governments to represent state interests in the federal government.
We seek to end the control of political parties in dictating the direction and wellbeing of our beloved country. We shall do this in two ways, first by making ranked choice voting law. Allowing citizens to adequately vote their values without fear of throwing away their vote. Second, by abolishing the primary election system. Political parties should not be able to gatekeep who can run for public office to benefit party favorites and ideological adherents. By doing this we break the political monopoly of the parties and allow for new ideas to better enter the public forum.
We seek to better curtail the terrifying influence of corporations in our country. These businesses have bought, bribed, and bluffed their way into power. Some of these companies dare call themselves too big to fail, there is no such thing. We must as a nation topple these monoliths and remind these uppity merchants that they are not the sovereigns of this state. We must seek to abolish the artificial monopolies called conglomerates by outlawing the ability for companies to own stock in each other’s businesses. We must also stop giant companies like Google and Amazon from smothering the market by their sheer size by making anti-trust laws that target businesses for getting too big as well as possessing monopolies.
We must end the forever wars in the middle east by ending our pointless crusade of “democracy”. It is the right of every nation to govern themselves as they seem fit. If this means they do not choose an American style democracy then so be it. We as a nation do not have the right to enforce ideological dominion over other nations. We should also stop propping up the vile Saudi regime. A nation that has wanton regard for human rights and decency. Who also actively funds the terrorist movements we fight and profits off of war by keeping the oil flowing. We should also seek to rebuild relationships with Latin America as we have done great harm to them during the cold war years.
We seek to bring the United States on par with the rest of the developed world by providing adequate welfare programs. We also seek to establish a functioning and robust public healthcare system. The two main parties have either insisted that “market forces” would be adequate enough to solve these problems or have provided the bare minimum to win votes. We expect results and will fight to get actual results and not just sentiment. No American should go without healthcare, without food, without shelter, and without hope. Life may be difficult but no American should be made to suffer because its government doesn’t care for them.
We seek, nay we must, tackle the existential threat of global warming head on by all means reasonable. We will use carbon capture technology to rip the vile greenhouse gas from the air and use it to make new sustainable products or lock it away deep underground where it can do no harm. We will use all available assets at our disposal to curtail emissions including; Wind, Solar, Hydroelectric, and most definitely nuclear. We do not fear the atom as so many in the environmental movements do. We will help lead nuclear energy to its full potential with new technologies at our disposal. We understand sacrifices must be made but under no circumstances should these sacrifices deter the quality of life. We must find a new sustainable future that doesn’t involve us progressing backwards as a civilization.
We will fight to rebuild public transportation infrastructure. The railroad, once an icon of American culture, has fallen into disarray. Neglected because the interstate had taken its place. But even today, nothing matches it in efficiency of transportation of goods and people. Therefore, we as a movement will fight to rebuild the railroads and other public transportation systems to their former glory. With newer more environmentally friendly technology to pave the way. We must surpass China and Europe in efficient railway systems if we are to call ourselves a world power.
We must protect our environment and natural resources with more aggressive laws and penalties. In the late 90’s the Dupont corporation was found guilty of intentionally dumping toxic PFOA chemicals into water supplies that people depended on to drink. The subsequent mass poisoning has had a permanent effect on the human and animal population. Yet they received little more than a fine. This is disgraceful, a crime of this magnitude should’ve resulted in arrests and prison sentences. Crimes against our beautiful country and its natural environment should be punished to the full extent of the law as deemed fit by each infractions impact. If people die as a result of a company’s negligence, then the charge ought to be murder.
We shall fight for adequate police reform. If a nation cannot trust its civil servants to properly uphold the law then who can they trust at all. We must mend the damage done by years of police conduct and seek to prevent new damage from being done. Better training and screening programs must be in place as well as a more robust internal affairs system to bring abusive cops to justice. We should also abolish the abhorrent practice of no-knock raids. Police officers should be trained to use more non-lethal means of apprehension first before having to resort to their side arm. We also seek to abolish police unions as they are an obvious obstacle to having an accountable police force.
We support Paid Maternity Leave and higher standard for labor rights. The American worker should not have to suffer at the hands of greedy corporations. Nor should they have to be dependent on monolithic unions to defend their rights. We want to guarantee all workers in the USA adequate benefits, vacation, and Maternal and Paternal leave. We also seek to end the abhorrent practice of penalizing workers for taking sick days. Public health is paramount and nobody should feel as if they must go to work sick because they risk losing money or even their job. We also seek to further strengthen OSHA and increase the rate in which workplaces are inspected. Hazards should also include climate and environmental hazards such as excessive heat and cold and employees should be protected thusly.
The method we seek to achieve these things is simple. We shall build our movement from the ground up. Starting in local governments we will show you we are reliable and trustworthy. Most of all we will show you we hold ourselves to standards and seek to get adequate results. As we continue to grow, we will expand ever continuously into higher offices, state and federal. With your support and the hard work and determination of our members we cannot possibly fail. It won’t be easy; it will take long hours and there will be heartbreak. With determination and perseverance, we can overcome all obstacles and achieve total victory. By the will of God and by the will of the people we therefore declare the National Organization for a Monarchist America to be convened and our movement to be just. Thank you and good day!

Again feel free to scrutinize it to whatever extent you deem fit

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Market : Repository Of Analysis And Information For Every Facet Of The Industry 2017-2026

The toxic woman of Riverside

The Toxic Woman of Riverside; I heard about this story on a podcast called The Dollop, this is episode 133 and is much better at explaining than I am so go check it out if you're interested but everything I'm writing is straight from their script. Also, I take no credit for the jokes written.
Gloria Ramirez was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and was given a little over a year to live. One day she began vomiting and was having a hard time breathing. She passed out and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. During the transition to the hospital the paramedics put an IV in her arm, some blood was spilt but it was not an issue. This is important to remember. When she arrived at the hospital they rushed her to a trauma bay in the ER at 8:15 pm. By this time she was awake and speaking again. The doctors and nurses gave Gloria drugs to sedative her to slow her irregular heartbeat. Then Nurse Susan Kane came to start another IV. When administrating an IV, the standard protocol is to squeeze the tubing to get rid of any air bubbles. Kane then put the IV into her right arm and started to draw blood next to the IV and at that point she started to smell something weird. She said it smelled like ammonia. She said, "Who popped the ammonia?" Kane gave the syringe full of Gloria's blood to ER resident Dr. Julie Gorchynski. Kane leaned over to smell Gloria's arm at the place where the IV entered and immediately fainted. Someone yelled out to catch nurse Kane. A doctor grabbed her as she was falling and gently put her on the ground. Now Dr. Julie Gorchynski smelled the syringe and immediately felt queasy so she turn and started to leave the trauma bay but she didn't make it, she passed out before she could make it. She laid on the floor shaking and was having difficulty breathing. The two women were taken out of the trauma bay on gurneys. At this point respiratory therapist Maureen Welch the tube of blood a sniff. She also said it smelled like ammonia and she started to feel faint. Then she went down like a 3rd sack of someone sniffing the same thing. When Maureen woke up her arms and legs were jerking uncontrollably. Then another nurse, Sally Baldara started vomiting and said that her throat was badly burning. She was put on a gurney and taken outside to the parking lot. Many other ER workers started to get sick, all saying they smelled ammonia. It was total chaos in the ER so a doctor called for an evacuation and 911 was called. Patients were taken out to the parking lot while a skeleton crew stayed inside to try and save Ramirez's life. A short while later the Fire department arrived and ordered the remaining crew to get out. About 8:50 pm Gloria was pronounced dead, only 35 minutes after being admitted. It's unclear if she died before or after the evacuation of the ER. Paramedics tended to those who were ill, at least 15 had smelled the odder and 12 of them had fallen ill with symptoms like dizziness, nausea, headaches and difficulties breathing. Of those who were ill, 6 were admitted to nearby hospitals. Dr. Julie Gorchynski, the second person to smell the syringe was the worst off. She would be in intensive care for two weeks and needed a respirator to breath. She spent the next three months in a wheel chair while bleeding in the back of her brain. She was later diagnosed hepatitis and avasuler necrosis in both of her knees. Thats where the bones die, leaving her crippled and ending her career. Inspectors from California Workers Safety Agency declared Gloria's body a public health hazard. Her corpse was wrapped in layers of thick plastic and stored in an airtight aluminum casket but was not put in a cold storage space. The media went crazy, no one could explain it. Reports called it the medical mystery of the century. Obviously there was concern about doing an autopsy but they went to great lengths to protect the pathologist from whatever nightmare is in Gloria's body. A special chamber was built so that the four men conducting the autopsy would be sealed away from the rest of the world. The word level A protective suites, like the kind that are used to clean up toxic spills. Each man was connected to an oxygen tank. When they were conducting the autopsy, Riversides Hazardous Materials Team watched on the security system. They were also wearing the suites and their job was to rush in to retrieve the other team in case of an emergency. Outside three fire trucks waited with full crews. (ET should be inside) A OSHA District Manager and OSHA inspector were in charge of the autopsy and even came up with the autopsy plan. The autopsy was not allowed to proceed until the two inspectors were sure everyone was protected as possible. Then something odd happened, Riverside County Coroner, Scott Hill ordered the two inspectors to leave. The two men were very upset and said they had to be there by state law and legally the autopsy couldn't take place without their approval. But the coroner was having none of it. The OSHA inspectors were escorted out of the hospital by a police Sargent. The District Manager said, "I've never experienced such hostility in all my years from Cal osha. As we were being led off the property by the police Sargent I had the feeling that something very serious had occurred at that hospital and the coroner knew what it was, they wanted us out of there because they were afraid of us finding out what had really happened at the hospital that night." Scott Hill later announced that Gloria Ramirez died from heart and kidney failure due to her cervical cancer. He said that the fumes came from her body and were released when the IV was put in. But, remember when I noted some blood that was spilt in the ambulance in the beginning? No smells were smelt and the paramedics never got sick. Whatever happened to Gloria happened after she arrived at the hospital. The Ramirez family started to have questions so they started to look into things as well. She was supposed to have another year to live and they were noticing that evidence was missing, lots of evidence. The syringe that was used to draw her blood was gone. A Riverside spokesman told reporters hat the fire department did not think to retrieve it that night. That fairly strange because that everyone was freaked out and you'd think that all the evidence would be taken care of, especially if it was making people's bones freaking die. A nurse, Sally Joe Maquorcal said the fire departments hazardous materials specialist did ask about the syringe. She was also asked about it by the hazmat crew and her supervisor. She has told them all where she had put the syringe and yet it was gone. The blood that was removed from Gloria right before she dies also vanished. Her IV bag was sent to the US food and drug administration to be tested, later Chief Deputy Coroner said that he never followed up with the FDA. A lot of other stuff like IV tubing, towels, sheets and even the clothing worn by the ER staff was all put into barrels and sent to a desert waist facility. There it sat in the hot desert sun for several months. No test had been preformed on any of it. Two weeks after the death of Ramirez the two OSHA inspectors were removed from the case and demoted for "not understanding the politics surrounding the case" The coroner even claimed that the two men threatened and intimidated him to delay the autopsy. After the two were kicked off the case the head of the county's health services sent out an email to his staff ordering them to keep their mouths shut about the incident because of "a very sensitive agreement with Cal OSHA that could be disturbed with adverse press reporting." This statement even turned out to be true. Cal OSHA did make a backroom deal with Riverside County, the deal was to get the two investors off the case. The case was then given to a new Cal OSHA Investigator and he didn't even make it over to the hospital for six weeks. Things started to go sideways about a month after Gloria's death. The deputy Coroner assigned to Gloria's case, Stephanie Albright shot herself while on the phone with her ex husband on the phone. Another coworker said that she was under pressure from the Gloria Ramirez case. Gloria's family was not happy about how the case was being handled. They began to call the Coroner's office to ask when her body would be released. They wanted an independent autopsy and to bury her body. So of corse, county officials sued the Ramirez family. The County was demanding that any autopsy performed by the family would have to follow the same procedures they had followed, leaving out the part where they kicked out the two guys. But during court proceedings it was revealed that the county had preformed a double secret autopsy on Gloria. And this time without using any of the crazy protective procedures that they used the first time and are demanding the family now use. The judge was not happy, she asked the coroner to explain what was going on. Hill said, "They wanted to finish the stuff they weren't able to finish the second time." One of the two OSHA inspectors was not buying it, "When they did the second autopsy they wanted to make sure the chemicals that Ramirez had been injected with or exposed to has sufficiently dissipated. There are many chemicals that have a half life and disappear over time." The Riverside Coroner was pretending like it was perfectly normal to do two autopsies two weeks apart. Experts say this is far from normal. "Normally we do autopsies all at one time" said a spokesman for the LA Coroners Office, "a veteran Coroner should be able to do an autopsy in one setting." The Judge said that the coroners actions made it seem like the county is trying to hide something. Then the judge ordered county officials to answer questions under oath about the investigation. Moments before officials were supposed to take the stand the county withdrew their lawsuit and allowed the Ramirez family to take Gloria's body. It had now been a full two months since Gloria's passed, she was delivered to a separate Coroner that the family had hired to do an autopsy. The body was badly decomposed because they never kept her on ice. All of Gloria's internal organs had been removed and placed together inside a plastic bag. Also, her heart was entirely missing. The Coroner said he could not rule out a cause of death due to the decomposition, the missing heart and the fact that her other organs had been contaminated with fecal matter. Gloria was finally buried in an unmarked grave in Riverside. Riverside County Hospital was looking down the barrel of serious liability. Gloria's family was rightly angry and the lawsuits came. One by the Ramirez family and the other by Dr. Gorchynski. An investigator hired by the family went out the the desert waist facility where a lot of the evidence had been put in barrels and was sitting in the sun. It was now four months later. "There were no labels on any of the items in there. It was as if they had collected evidence bags, red bags filled with items, threw them in a barrel and shipped it. I can honestly say that everything I saw out there is useless. Even though the media was calling it the medical mystery of the century there was no chain of custody. There was no clear indication of who was in charge of what evidence. They made no effort to preserve any of the evidence." At this time, Scott Hill finally released Gloria's death report. It said she died of heart and kidney failure related to cervical cancer. "The fumes that made everyone sick was just the smell of death." It didn't take long before he was being attacked in the media for the way he handled everything. He suddenly produced a report made by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The lab speculated that the fumes probably came from a bizarre chemical chain reaction in Gloria's blood prompted by the use of Dimethyl sulfoxide. Also known as DMSO. The press bought it, the La times wrote a big article on it even though scientists from all over the country were ridiculing the labs conclusions. "There isn't a knowledgeable chemist in the country that would call this theory plausible," said Stanley Jacob, one of the worlds leading DMSO Experts, "even a collage chemist would know this couldn't happen." It turns out that the Lawrence Livermore scientists had only wrote the paper as a theory, not as a definite explanation of what happened but Hill released it as if it was conclusive. The state department of health services then released a report blaming the ER situation on mass hysteria. The Doctor tending to Dr. Gorchynski said, "The Mass Hysteria diagnosis is very insulting. It was obvious there was a certain bureaucratic pressure to come up with the theory. But these ER workers have real physical problems and Dr. Gorchynski was the most seriously effected. ER people are not likely to succumb to mass hysteria. These are people who suck out chest wounds all day and drill holes in peoples heads." Dr. Gorchynski said, "I think it is ridiculous for a government agency to come out before evaluating records. The bones in both my knees are dead and they never even bothered to interview me. So what could the hospital be so afraid of? Well, it's Riverside county. It's a place known for Meth the way Anaheim is known for Disneyland. The county is full of people making and using Meth. Between 1988 and 1987 more than one thousand Meth labs were shut down in the county. In 1996 the State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement called Riverside County The methamphetamine capital of the world. Meth labs have been found to pop up in the weirdest places in Riverside. In 1995 cops found one being run at a daycare center. In 1996 police found a Meth lab in the home of a middle school teacher. Several people around the county have been found making Meth in Walmart's and in 1990 a Meth lab was discovered in a Denver public medical facility. An employee was making Meth at night in the lab. It was discovered by a supervisor when he smelled strong chemical fumes. State county officials never looked into the possibility of Meth but the fumes and sickness that struck the ER staff match those that have exposure to Meth fumes. A forensic chemist who analyzes drug lab materials said, "Those smells and symptoms are classic to math fume exposure. All that would be consistent with a Meth lab. And as happen in Denver Colorado, medical facilities are the perfect place to make Meth because you can order the chemicals you need without being questioned and there are a lot of locked doors." Meth doesn't require a lot of equipment to make. It can be made with a few beakers and some salt and so the big problem is that chemical can explode or release toxic fumes. Because that cops have cracked down heavily on labs some Meth makers carry out the process in stages in different locations and that makes it easier to avoid detection. A 'market' was created to trade materials and finished parts for making Meth somewhere else. Kind of like putting together a big Meth started kit. Finished Meth actually has no odor but we're talking about precursor chemicals and they smell like ammonia and/or a sewer. And it just so happens that sewer like odors had been reported for months before Gloria died and no source was ever found. A month before her death, a cancer patient had to run out of his room because he was almost overcome with toxic fumes. The smell was so intense that he vomited and the same thing happened two days later to the same cancer patient. The hospital staff even reported sewer smells the morning of the day that Gloria was brought to the ER. If someone was making chemical recipe bags to make Meth then the smells would have been the source and that is exactly what one of the fired OSHA inspectors think. "I leave there was an intermediary product, not fill Meth that was being manufactured in the hospital and then transported out to be completed elsewhere. I think that county officials figured out very quickly there was some hospital workers running their own business on the side. I don't think anybody in the hospital knew about it at the time other than those involved but they found out what was going on and decided to cover everything up. It is the only plausible scenario." He believes that 'they were package and IV bags and smuggled out of the hospital. And somehow one of the IV bags accidentally made its way to the ER where it was used as an IV on Gloria Ramirez. If the nurse squeezed some fluid out of the bag when getting rid of some of the bubbles that would explain why there was such a strong fumes in the air. There is other evidence that indicates Meth. The symptoms that the ER staff experienced points to exposure to meth gases. Also blood tests on Ramirez, Gorchynski and a nurse showed elevated levels of cyanide. That has been unexplained by the government officials but Meth specialist Edd Brown, who provides expert testimony in drug trials, says the elevated cyanide levels would be clearly explained by exposure to Methylamine. It's an ingredient in meth that has a strong ammonia oder. Methylamine causes headaches, dizziness, burning sensations in the throat and other respiratory problems. Once it in the body, it can be converted to cyanide. County officials said there was no Meth detected in the body of Ramirez and the decomposing body makes detecting it almost impossible. They sued the family to delay the 3rd autopsy so that the chemicals would be gone from the corpse by the time it was preformed. But they didn't test for precursors, only the full product. Also, there were strong vapors in the body bag. The state claims the chemical was new and did not match anything in their chemical libraries. But when asked to look at it three years later a UC Professor of forensic toxicology and consultant to the D.E.A. found that it matched two amino compounds. One of them is a Meth precursor that has a strong ammonia scent. He came to these results so quickly that he doubts the investigators made any kind of effort. In the end, the coroner never returned her heart and upon being questioned in court, three years after her death, if there was any reason to keep the heart he told the judge "I don't know if any!" The Ramirez family settled for $350,000 out of court. I could find no record of what happened to the Gorchynski case.

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Food safety implications of Liquinox Iron & Zinc

[Table] IAmA: I have been doing HAZMAT/Environmental Clean Up Since 2005. I cleaned up many Envrionmental Hazards including UST, Wrecks, Chemical Explosions, Oil Spills, Bio Hazards (suicides/homocides) Train Derailments, and much more! AMA

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Date: 2013-05-25
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What is the most emotionally draining thing you've had to clean up? Also: did you get involved in the Deepwater Horizon spill? If so, how did that compare to other jobs? I understand that the depth of the well made it a real pain in the ass compared to standard cleanups.	The Most emotionally draining thing I ever cleaned up was a my first suicide. I was in my early 20's and got sent to a Job were a guy had found out his wife was cheating on him so went to the bathroom put a shotgun in his mouth and used his foot to pull the trigger. We got in after the body was removed but there was brains and blood all over the bathroom. My supervisor at the time got sick and could not work so I did most of the cleaning my self. The bad part about the job was people keep calling the house and while I was picking the guys brains off the wall I keep hearing how Happy he sounded when the message for the answering machine that he recorded cut on. This was hard to deal with after the job and it opened my eyes to the fact I am mortal and I now think about death on the regular. Awe Inspring would have to be a Clean up I did in Lake Charles Louisiana at a Oil refinery. Almost every environmetal Firm on the east coast was there and a a ton of oil got into the lake. The most mind blowing thing was with so many environmental crews there it was not on the news.
	Scariest would be a gasoline tank cleaning I was doing on a BP storage site. I was in the tank hooked up to a air compressor that was pumping in oxygen for me to breath as we pushed all the waste to the vac truck hose. During the day I started to feel really good and started even to get the giggles but it was followed by a real bad headache. My co-worker in the tank that was with me told me my eyes look really red then I remember waking up outside the tank. Turns out another contractor had cut on their generator next to my air compressor and I was breathing in the exhaust from the generator. That really scared me and made me think. I was not down for the Deepwater oil spill but I have co-workers that went down to clean up that are still down there off and on. They said it was a real mess.
... and I now think about death on the regular.	For a long time it really bothered me contemplating my own mortality but after away I just realized there is nothing I can do about it.
How does this affect the way you feel and live, if you don't mind my asking?	I just live everyday now like I might die tomorrow, and I make sure that when I am at work I pay more attention and am not as reckless as I was when I was in my early 20's.
Wassup Lake Chuck shout out, that's my hometown. tell me more about this oil spill...	Okay so lets talk Lake Chalres and CITGO.
	Heck when I was looking for an article about it to share I found a article saying that Citgo had to pay a few million for that screw up.
	Link to usatoday30.usatoday.com
	I had been working all week and got sent down to Lake Charles because of that spill. I was there on the first night and stayed for a week or so till we got sent of the job because some newbie on one of our trucks was cleaning the truck and got his hand cut in a fan and had to go to ER. He was fine it was a plastic fan and broke plus he was wearing gloves just got bruised but we got sent home the next day.
	Anyway we get down to Lake Charles and pull up and get sent right away to the staging area. During the night one of the tanks collapsed due to flooding and lost a few million gallons of oil directly into the water way. We were rushed to a random spot and hooked up to a oil skimmer with almost every other environmental clean up firm and started pulling oil from the lake.
	This place was a mess and one of the worst environmental disasters I have witnessed. There was oil on the shore miles off the refinery for example while I can't remember exact numbers I am pretty sure my station was 22 miles from the main refinery at a second pool they found that had broken from the main area. It was in the creeks, shore lines, I mean from my perspective it looked like the Big oil spills I seen on the news when I was growing up.
	After working all night I get back to the hotel which was a hour away because everything was booked up by every environmental firm it seemed like on the east coast and checked the internet to read up about the spill cause I mean this thing was massive. I get on and nothing I found a few minor stories but I did not see any major news coverage like I expected.
	That was a mess and the one of the largest clean ups I have taken part of and the fact that it was not a big story at the time cracks me up. I bet you money you can still find pockets of oil from that mess in the waterways and that is what I mean by the media not giving enough attention to some of the messes that I have cleaned up.
	That was water your city and surrounding cities spilled over 5 million of gallons on and only got hit with a 6 million dollar fine. They were able to do this because it was not covered. We were not allowed to take pictures and most of the oil was along the banks of the land they owned so media could not get there to cover it.
	The good thing about my line of work is that I don't have to worry about job security as long as places like that exist cause once we find a better source of energy the clean up will take generations.
I'm not sure about the legality issues, but don't companies have to abide by certain chemical exposure limits and provide you with proper PPE? Otherwise, cant they can get a serious lawsuit?	Yes the are required to by law. Does it happen in the real world for the most part yes, but there are occasions where you get sent into places without the right gear and its up to you to blow the whistle.
	Most of the companies I worked for do not allow me to go into IDLH (immediate danger to life and health) environments. The details on what a IDLH environment is can be found here.
	Link to en.wikipedia.org
If I see you running, should I do the same?	Yes, yes you should.
Tech in the fire service here, I have T-shirt I designed and screen-printed that actually says, "I am a HAZMAT TECH If you see me running, try and keep up." With a little NFPA 704 between HAZMAT and TECH. My colleagues love it.	I have a few myself. With being a fire fighter please do me a big favor when you are using oil dry please don't go over board lol. I swear fire fighters around here clearly use the P for Plenty technique they forget some body has to shovel that up lol!
How do you manage to eat during long and disgusting cleanups? Do you easily go from cleaning up blood and guts to munching on lunch?	Gore really does not bother me much anymore because I have grown use to it. I have seen alot of messed up stuff so it just gets put in the back of your heard.
	Remember most of the time we are working in chemical suits in the dead of summer so its extremely hot and draining. When you get a chance to eat you eat because most of the time your pulling 12+ Hours a shift.
	I actually eat more on big clean up projects then I do on smaller projects. With small projects if I stop and eat that just makes it a hour longer to get out of there during the day. So I put down that I have a lunch and leave a hour early that way if OSHA comes to the job site it does not look like we have been skipping lunch.
How bad does the news underestimate damages from big man made disasters? Oil spills/plant explosions and what not.	All the time. Most of the time when I see something I cleaned up on the news they never get into the true extent of what really happen or how bad it was. This has alot to do with the fact that we are not allowed to talk to reporters.
	They also don't really get into how long it takes to clean up alot of those messes. We are normally still there a long time after the initially reporting cleaning up.
Another question: as a badass cleaner, do you have any hints and tips to help us clean up our homes?	I stay away from heavy cleaners for the house hold because I hate chemicals. For cleaning around the house I use vinegar or citrus cleaners.
	Also if you ever find mold don't freak out! Right now Mold is turning into the new asbestos and environmental companies are making a killing off it. If you have mold find the leak and stop it, spray the area with Bleach or this stuff called simple green. If the boards or dry wall is really wet just get ride of the wet stuff and replace it or call in a handy man to do it.
	For mold we buy almost all our chemicals for clean up from lowes then charge a arm and a leg for such a simple fix.
Okay. I understand that this type of profession can make you somewhat jaded in regards to gore, and other disgusting things. But what is the thing that has shaken you the most that you have seen? It doesn't have to be something that's disgusting, but what has shaken your soul?	Like I said in the post above my first suicide was the hardest for me to get over and opened my eyes to my own mortality nothing like cleaning up Human brain to make you realize exactly what your made of.
	Another thing that I look back on that bugs me is a clean up I did on the interstate. Truck driver went in to grab a drink and forgot to cut on his air brakes. His truck went down the on ramp into incoming traffic and hit a car with a family going on vacation and killed the mother. I got their to clean up the saddle tanks that broke and leaked diesel onto the freeway. To this day I will never forget the look in those kids eye's starring at the truck driver who killed there mom over a pepsi while he was talking to the police. It was just a sad miserable day.
What was the most toxic load a train was carrying that you cleaned up? Have you ever had to clean up a passenger train derailment?	My father did a clean up he told me about where a train carrying Chlorine Gas had wrecked near a development. People who heard the explosion and went out side, or left there windows open died where they stood or slept. They had to go around and mark the houses that had dead bodies and he said it was the worst one he had ever cleaned up. I did one, one day were a train wrecked carrying BMW's, TV's, 4 Wheelers, and cigarettes. That was a sad wreck because we had to crush everything. When a train wrecks most of the time the rail road just buys everything on the train because its quicker to destroy it all instead of trying to salvage. I spent a weekend crushing car's and four wheelers that didn't have a thing wrong with them. Still have a few BMW keys laying around.
How's the pay?	East Coast pay starts around 12-14 for entry level work after a few years its easier to move to 15-20 dollars a hour.
	The great thing though is any time you go to a big job, or after hours emergency response its automatically time and a half.
Have you ever been injured or contaminated? Also, is there anything you would refuse to clean up?	I have went down in a tank due to lack of oxygen.
	Had my hand cut open by a pressure washer while cleaning some house house.
	I have gotten sick after I got covered by human waste while cleaning up a oil spill that got into the sewer system. We were in a john boat in the sewer system trying to pressure was the walls. Everything was suppose to be locked out and tagged out but they forgot the place were they offloaded the portajohn trucks. I was trying to hold the boat in place while my buddy cleaned and next thing I know some dick emptied a truck directly onto us and the boat sinking the boat while we got pulled out by the tripods. I got sick for a few days from that it was bad.
	Other then that I have been covered in oil and acid more times then I would like to count.
Oh GOD. That sounds vile, man, really terrible. I can't even imagine.	Yeah that was a bad day. I was literally up shits creek without a paddle.
What inspired you to get into a field like that?	My father started doing Environmental Clean up when he got out of the marines so I grew up around it. After I got out of the army I was kind of lost and didnt know what I wanted to do so my dad offered me a job at his firm. I was younger and liked danger so I figured it would be fun.
How has the fun part worked out for you? From your other answers, you definitely have the danger covered.	I have been lucky and got to do a lot of traveling around the country. While it is very dangerous at times it can be fun work.
	You never really do the same thing as every job is different and some jobs are pretty cool. One that comes to mind was cleaning up a airplane hanger for one of the top NASCAR teams. The fire alarm came on and flooded it with foam before they were suppose to leave. When we got there we got to clean it up and we got to meet all the drivers and what not. I am not a big Nascar fan but it was cool.
	I also take the time when I travel to check out all the historical locations around when I am out of town. So I have got to check out and see some cool stuff I might not have been able to do if I didn't travel as much.
What the most dangerous/poisonous chemical you have cleaned up and what caused it?	I have cleaned up alot of nasty stuff over the years. While it might not be the most Dangerous thing I clean up but Polychlorinated biphenyl aka PCB's have always scared the crap out of me. They have mutagenic effects on humans so its some very nasty stuff and it always scares me more then anything else I work with.
PCB's are only the tip of the bad for you iceberg. So many other chemicals can kill you in a heartbeat. H2S is one, N2, are just some of the ones I could get exposed to in my line of work.	Oh trust me I have delt with a lot of stuff that is a lot more dangerous but PCB's just have always freaked me out for some reason.
Hi! Thanks for doing this AMA! Have any of your co-workers been exposed to anything extremely dangerous? What happened afterwards? What are the precautions to decontaminate those that are exposed?	I had a good buddy of mine working at a pesticide plant that exploded. That was a mess and I to this day don't know what all was out there.
	We were doing vac truck work sucking out puddles of this multi colored liquid and my friend who is heavier set ripped his suit when he bent down. When we were walking out this tank that had been on fire for days which we tried to put out with dry ice, and various other methods finally blew and he got misted by whatever was in that when were getting to the decon.
	He was cut out of his suit and stripped but naked and scrubbed for like 30 mins then had to go under medical surveillance for a few weeks to make sure nothing happen to him.
In regards to all the waste you clean up, where does it all go? Are toxic materials like oil and certain metals just being tossed around or is there really a way to properly clean everything up so it doesn't contaminate the environment it's in? Thank you for your noble work!	All waste generated is regulated and tracked. When we clean something up it has to go to facilities that are designated by the state. Every truck load of dirt, or tank full of waste we take out is accounted for.
	If its oil most of the time it goes to a oil recycling plant and its refined back into usable oil. (I have worked for one)
	Other chemicals are sent off to planets be incinerated. (I have cleaned some up when they accidentally blew up.)
Is there much paperwork to fill in with regards to secrecy when it comes to working with big oil operations or rail yards?	When you pull up to a rail yard or oil refinery the first thing you have to do is check in and go through training. Most of these training programs are pretty much the same but you have to sit through them for each place. They also like to give out NDA's with the training courses where you promise not to talk about what you seen or did on the plant or yard.
	One company I worked for made us sign paperwork that would protect them if we ever got contaminated on a project. This is stuff like we were aware of the risk, acknowledge we have proper training, and we know what we are doing type stuff. So if something does happen we cant sue.
Ever done a crime scene clean up?	I have cleaned up a few crime scenes most notable would be one were a woman attacked and stabbed in the bathroom at a foodlion and she tried to escape through the store but bleed out before she got to the front.
What job would you not take?	I do not do anything with radiation you have to draw the line somewhere and it just scares me to much. I mean I don't mess with it at all.
	I had a job at a nuclear plant that wanted us to go down near the reactor and clean off some old lead paint. We would have only been allowed down there for 15 minutes then we could not have any xrays or any other type of radiation for a year I said no. My work tried to pressure me into it but they finally let it go not willing to risk firing me over it.
	I also was in a school doing a lab pack (We go collect all the old lab chemicals). I went in and made a list of everything that needed to be removed then when I thought I was done the janitor took me back through like 3 classrooms to some hidden room near the AC and showed me a box of disk that had radiation warnings all over them. I have no idea why these were in the school but I just walked out and called in somebody else to take care of it.
Ever cleaned up somthing, that you did not know or understand but was just told to 'clean up anyways'??	Pigeon crap... I have had to clean it out of chruches and school attics as well as the bridges on interstates so they can do structural integrity test. I understand why we have to do it but really I mean come on its just poo..
What kind of education did you get to follow this profession?	High School degree for entry level work. Most of the time if you get a job with a company they will pay for your HazWopper and get your started right away.
	This though leads to a lot of dumb people in dangerous situations which would not be so bad if having a moron on the site did not just endanger them but you as well.
I find the hazmat field to be pretty interesting. I'm graduating with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in a year; are there any positions in the hazmat field for that kind of degree?	On my end the clean up side of things I don't work with many people with degree's. Most of the people with Degree's work for Consulting firms and not the actually clean up firms.
Do you have kids and if so has your job affected your cleaning up after them?	I have a daughter that is now a little over a year. When I was growing up I was always afraid of cleaning up diapers or after the kid but now Its really nothing. I mean whats a little baby poo compared to what I cleaned over the years.
What is a normal day of work to you? Any specific routines and so on?	My normal day consist of doing regular scheduled jobs. This is everything from Mold Clean Up, to underground storage tank clean ups. These are normally projects that the company bids and picks up.
	However a few times a week we get calls for emergencies most of the times these are wrecks that involved tractor trailers and their full tanks busted but once a month maybe every too we get a big call for a train derailment or a bad emergency at a plant like busted chemical lines.
What kind of gear do you wear for HazMat operations? For PPE Gear. I was curious on what goes on to clean Meth Labs. Ever saw Breaking Bad? Is it realistic in terms of there equipment ? Or its not sufficient enough?	I have cleaned up plenty of Meth Houses and they are nasty nasty places. Most of the people become to paranoid to go outside so they start collecting trash in the house. Plus you always have to watch out for needles and other fun things like that.
	As for equipment I never really got into Breaking Bad cause like I said I clean up meth houses and witness what they are and what they do to people first hand so I can't compare. The best way to describe equipment would be a crack heads chemistry set with a house full of random unknown chemicals.
	When we go into a Meth house we have to remove everything down the the studs. Carpet, Cabinets, Dry Wall, if it can get taken out it must be removed. We also have to shovel out the couple roll off's full of trash they pile up in rooms.
	Needless to say I hate Meth. Also For PPE its Tyvek Suits and really thick gloves so you don't get a needle in your hands.
What's the most common jobs you get?	Anything dealing with Oil. Truck wrecks are the most common emergency, and old gas station clean ups are the most regular job.
	I really hate oil from how much I cleaned it up over the years and I think if more people experienced and seen the devastation it causes like I have over the years we would be a lot closer to finding a replacement for it.
Based on some of your other responses, it sounds like accidents due to ineptitude happen far too frequently (venting a generator into your oxygen intake, emptying sewage literally on your head, etc.).	A lot of the accidents are due to people we are working with not really being well trained. For example with the sewage we had locked out and tagged out everything we were told feed into the system. The people we were working for forgot that the hook up for the portajohn trucks feed into the lines we were cleaning. By freak chance we just happen to be under the offload pipe when they unloaded.
When you were on the job, did you ever take a crowbar and pretended you're Morgan Freeman? Edit: Is your HAZMAT suit orange? edit: I meant Gordon Freeman.	No I do sometimes pretend my heavy equipment is a mech suit and I at war.
What was the hardest thing you had to clean?	One of the worst jobs I did was a tractor trailer had hit a girl on a moped and dragged her for a half a mile before stopping. We had to clean the remains with shovels and a drum.
I just finished my HAZWOPER cert. I'm inspired to make this my career, how should I go about that?	A bunch of people have been asking this and I am going to try to break it down a little better. First off you really don't need a degree or anything to get into the field. The best thing to do is look up environmental clean up in your area and start watching those companies for job postings and apply.
	While the work we do is somewhat crazy its not a hard profession to get into just have to apply for the job and get accepted.
	Warning though this job is very extreme physical labor. You are going to do a lot do digger, pressure washing, and most of the time our work is in the summer due to the budget of our clients. So you are going to be out in the sun in chemical suits while you shovel.
	Like I said though if your interested search for local environmental clean up firms and keep applying till you pick up a job.
Do you have cancer yet?	You joke but that is something that concerns me daily. I have been exposed to a lot of chemicals. From Asbestos to PCB's and getting cancer is something that is always on the back of my mind. When I was younger I use to skimp or hate wearing all the full protection required and I just hope that in my youth I didn't do something dumb that will end up killing me.
	Sad fact is I will not know for about 10 more years so till then all I can do is hope for the best.
Another Question for ya. What is the turnover rate like in your profession? I imagine the pay is rather decent and could be enticing but do you notice a lot of people get burnt out rather quickly?	Its a hard line of work to adjust to. We pick up about 2-3 a year and lose about 2-3 because they quit.
You clean up homosexuals killed by genocide?	Sorry yeah just noticed that, was on my phone when I made the post were is spell check when you need it!
*Where . . . lol ;D.	Don't jude me! lol.
I just recently moved near a rail yard, should I be concerned?	No you should be fine most of the stuff that goes down on the rail yard is contained. The problem with Rail Yards though is a lot of times cars will leak and they just ignore the problem.
	Another problem with the rail roads is most of the time if there is a derailment Clean Up is a secondary concern. The Rail Roads number one priotrity is always to get the track up and running because its cost them millions every hour the track is shut down. This leads to a lot of standing around while they open up the tracks and a bunch of half ass clean ups on the actually tracks because they don't want to take the time to shut it down to clean it up like it needs to be.
	For example when a rail car starts leaking fuel instead of digging up the track and removing the soil we are only allowed to go in and spray with bio-solves that break down the oil/fuel on the surface.
How soon are you dispatched after an incident?	It depends on how quick they realize they need our services. Most of the time they rely on the fire departments for the little jobs but when the fire department realizes its to big for them we get called in.
	It also depends on were the accident happen. For instance if its a big wreck blocking a major interstate most of the time we are called right away and usually have pick up police escorts on the way.
With training and the time it takes to make your way to a decent wage would you say this is a reasonable "temp" job, or do you think one should do this only as a full-on career? Do you tend to work with the same people or all different? Do you work with mostly alright people or assholes? (Thanks for doing the AMA!)	If you want to get into the this field its best to get a full time job. There are staffing companies that higher and train people for hazmat, and hazardous clean up but the contracts almost always take advantage of temps and work them under the table. Also remember you make far more money working directly for a company instead of a temp agency. Temp Agencies charge us like 25+ a hour for temps but only pay them 10-12.
What is a situation that you would always want to run from?	Anything with Radiation. I was cleaning some oil storage tanks on a nuclear plant one day and a tornado warning started before we went into the plant. My crew went to go check in then took shelter in some trailer in a field. I got yelled at because I would note come in from the truck. I kindly told them to feel free to send me home because that just said Scifi B movie all over it.
There was a train derailment years ago in my town. They closed down the major road next to the spill for hours. It wasn't on the road road by the way. The spill was activated carbon. Ummm can activate carbon be a problem? Isn't it used to clean up some chemical spills?	Not that I am aware of off the top of my head. Teach you a trick though we use the Emergency Response Guide as our bible and if you ever have any questions about a chemical what it does, how to clean it up, if you should run just check this out. You can buy it pretty easily.
	Link to en.wikipedia.org
I've dabbled in HAZMAT with my workplace. Hazwopper and Scba training mostly with flammable and corrosive chemicals. How would I get into this line of work and how is the pay?	If you want to get into the field start searching for environmental clean up companies located around you. If you have Hazwopper already its alot easier to get into the door.
	I live on the east coast and with no experience pay starts around 12-15 a hour.
Earlier you talked about only using vinegar and citrus as house cleaners after seeing so many chemicals in your line of work. Has your career affected your outlook on environmental issues in any other way? Has it affected your political views? Thanks for what you do!	I am a firm believer in Global Warming because I have personally seen what we can do to this planet and environment.
This is probably a dumb question but are SCBAs involved in every job or only the "more hazardous" ones?	No SCBA's are only really used in the worst environments and we don't really like to work with them on. For example if you get called into a wreck and a truck had chemicals on it but you don't know what you have to go in with the highest PPE thats Level A with SCBA. Once we find out what it is we down grade.
HAZMAT cleanup is something I've been interested in, and did a small bit while in the US Navy. But when I'm not wearing an SCBA I dry heave all over the place because of the smells. Is it worth it to try and pursue the occupation anyway?	SCBA's only give you about 30 mins or so of oxygen then you have to get out of the environment so you cant work that long. Most of the time if we need air we go in on a compressor, but for most of the stuff we clean up its full face respirators or half face respirators with different cartridges for chemicals.
Thank you for your time and thank you for the AMA.	For smells if its organic you can always wear OV (Originate Vapor) cartridges which eliminate organic vapors.
How is the lunchbreak?	Its Daddy Daughter Day! As long as I don't get a emergency call!
What's your favorite/most enjoyable job at work?	Running Heavy Machinery. I grew up playing a lot of video games so running heavy machinery came naturally. When your loading trucks, or moving dirt it always beats being on the end of a shovel.
	Most of the time a radio in the equipment and if we are really lucky we have a AC.
	A lot of the time we will still be in chemical suits in the equipment so the AC helps. You are also most of the time hooked to your own very big bottle of air so you can turn the air on so its constantly flowing so it works as sort of a personally AC.
How did you get into the business? I'm currently considering trying to do something similar or identical to what you are doing.	I got lucky and my dad got me into the job. Everyone else I worked with got in through applying at multiple different firms. CDL's help because they are always looking for drivers to help move equipment.
Does your company make you travel to go for big projects or are you localized in a certain metro area? If you do get to travel, does it affect your focus/mentalities while on the job?	We travel all up and down the east coast heading to were the work is. Most of the environmental companies try to keep you close to home for regular jobs but when emergencies or big jobs pop up your put on the road right away.
	When I was younger I never minded really but now that I am married with a family it sucks getting sent away for work. Most of the times when we get to a job we have no idea how long we will be there and it will be weeks before you get home.
	I never really seen my father much growing up because he was always in a different state working for months. If we were lucky we seen him once a month but most of the time we wouldn't see him for 2 months or more.
Where do I purchase HAZMAT suits?	I get all my supplies from ARAMSCO you can buy anything you want.
	Link to www.aramsco.com

Last updated: 2013-05-29 19:38 UTC
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chemical hazard definition osha video

While chemical hazards are often associated with Major Hazard Facilities1 and chemical transport, they are ubiquitous in workplaces and so are within the scope of practice of all generalist OHS professionals (see, for example, OSHA, 2004). The modern approach to chemical hazard control encompasses both the reactivity2 and toxicity of chemicals. For emergency assistance, call 911 For after-hours EH&S emergencies, call (650) 725-9999 Worker education and training (Hazard Communication Standard) 29 CFR 1910.1200, 1915.1200, 1917.28, 1918.90, and 1926.59. OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is designed to ensure that information about chemical and toxic substance hazards in the workplace and associated protective measures is disseminated to workers. Details: According OSHA, a health hazard refers to a chemical that is classified according to its potential to cause one of the following hazardous effects: acute toxicity (any route of exposure), skin corrosion or irritation, serious eye damage or eye irritation, respiratory or skin sensitization, germ cell mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, specific target organ toxicity (single or repeated exposure), or aspiration hazard. osha identifying hazardous chemicals A hazardous chemical, as defined by the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), is any chemical which can cause a physical or a health hazard. This determination is made by the chemical manufacturer, as described in 29 CFR 1910.1200 (d). Attached is a copy of this section of this standard. The EPCRA regulations in 40 CFR Part 370 cite OSHA's broad definition of hazardous chemical (with certain exceptions listed in EPCRA Section 311 (e)), which includes any element, compound, or mixture of elements that is a physical hazard or a health hazard (29 CFR Section 1910.1200 (c) and 40 CFR Section 370.2).

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