Guidance document available for developers and users in hazardous waste cleanup technologies to minimize occupational hazards to workers

In evaluating innovative technologies for hazardous waste cleanup, work safety and health issues are rarely considered. In two 1995 technical workshops, co-sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), dozens of experts from government, labor, industry, and academia gathered to write a Guidance Document to be used by the developers and users of innovative cleanup technology. The Guidance Document, which was developed by NIEHS, DOE, and a team of experts, recommends tools to package safety and health information in usable forms--including safety hazard matrices, health hazard matrices, transition check lists, and technology safety data sheets--as well as the need for checklists and contract clauses between remediation companies and responsible parties. Also included in the Guidance Document is a model for phase analysis with a list of the hazards associated with each phase of technological development and implementation. The Guidance Document creates checklists for better identification of hazards that occur during transitions. Emergency response needs are also a focus of the Guidance Document, with minimum standards a key element. Case studies, because they are such powerful tools, are an integral part of the Guidance Document.