Wood preservation facilities, general recommendations: chapter A, table 18
Table 18. Recommended General Practices for Operating Wood Preservation Facilities (All Preservatives)
Operation: Personnel
| Objective |
Enhance worker protection by providing education and medical surveillance. |
| Recommendations |
- Train all forepersons, on-scene supervisors, operators and handlers in good work practices.
- Provide periodic (at least annually or if there is a change in operations) review and update of education and training.
- Provide pre-employment medical check-up and annual ongoing medical surveillance (see Sections 4 and 6). Surveillance frequency may be modified by the occupational physician.
- Keep records of training sessions and individual employee training.
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Operation: Procedures
| Objective |
Ensure that worker responsibilities are well understood, and that site-specific procedures are available in hard copy for reference. |
| Recommendations |
- Prepare (and have readily available) explicit written instructions for all aspects of chemical use, facility operation, maintenance and emergency response.
- Identify and communicate precautions for all other on-site handlers of treated wood (including quality control personnel, sorters and transporters).
|
| Objective |
Ensure clear and accurate signage at all wood preservation use areas. |
| Recommendations |
- Identify the contents of all tanks (e.g. CCA work tank, PCP oil storage tank).
- Identify the function of each tank (e.g. concentrate tank, work tank).
- Prominently display personnel safety precautions and first aid procedures.
- Prominently display emergency response procedures.
- Prominently display emergency telephone numbers for medical aid, facility management and local environmental control agencies.
- Clearly identify emergency alarm switch to avoid confusion with process equipment control switch.
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Operation: Personal hygiene and safety precautions
| Recomendations |
- Follow precautions outlined in Section 6.1 Table 6 and Section 6.3 Table 8.
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Operation: Housekeeping
| Objective |
Maintain a clean, orderly site. |
| Recommendations |
- Define and practice regular housekeeping standards (suggest daily):
- contain all contaminated debris
- minimize generation and accumulation of wastes, such as empty drums and containers (provide secure designated storage or dispose of in the appropriate manner).
- minimize dust generation and accumulation. Avoid dust cloud formation with machinery circulation.
- Visually inspect for, record and report leaks routinely as defined in the facility’s procedure manual (preferably daily).
- Contain and repair leaks promptly.
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Operation: Record keeping
| Objective |
- Provide a secondary level of control for chemical losses.
- Enable a rapid assessment of potential hazards, in the event of a catastrophic incident (e.g. tank rupture, fire).
|
| Recommendations |
- Maintain accurate daily records for
- chemical delivery, use and inventory; and
- equipment condition and maintenance.
- Record and compare bulk tank volumes before and after facility shutdowns in excess of two days.
- If changes in volume are apparent, check for tank leaks and/or irregular practices.
- Record alarm tests and ensure proper functioning.
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Operation: Spill response
| Objective |
Maintain a state of readiness to implement the plan in case of a chemical spill. |
| Recommendations |
- Establish a spill contingency plan (see Section 12.2).
- Carry out spill response drills.
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Operation: Firefighting
| Objective |
Maintain a state of readiness in case of fire emergency as per the National Fire Code of Canada. |
| Recommendations |
- Refers to Division B, Section 2.8 - Emergency Planning, and any other applicable acceptable solutions for “fire safety plan” in Parts 3, 4 and 5 of the National Fire Code of Canada 2010.
- Establish a fire contingency plan (Section 12.3) and maintain a state of readiness to implement the plan in case of fire emergency (including routine checks of the pressure and proper function of firefighting equipment; drills with all affected personnel in cooperation with the local fire department).
- Communicate with the local fire department about chemicals in storage and use and emergency procedures.
- When a fire alarm call is made, notify firefighters of chemical quantities in stock and verify the status quo of storage locations.
- Only trained and properly equipped firefighting personnel should be allowed at the fire scene.
- Make advance preparation to contain and properly dispose of contaminated fire residues to the greatest degree possible:
- Runoff water, soot and ash from fire areas are presumed to be contaminated and provision should be made to contain these residues.
- Analyze fire residues and involved ground soils (as applicable) to determine the need for and scope of special cleanup and disposal activities.
- Dispose of contaminated firefighting waters as “contaminated runoff.”
- Dispose of solid treated wood fire residues as “contaminated solid wastes.”
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