HAZMAT

The Office of Environmental Health & Safety has established procedures in place to handle any spills or leaks of hazardous materials on campus. Employees who work with hazardous materials are trained and equipped to handle minor, incidental spills that don’t pose a serious risk to themselves or others. The basic steps that can be applied to a spill of any nature are to (1)

1. Stop the spill.
2. Contain the spill.
3. Clean up the spill.

Depending on the nature of the spill, these steps can look very different, but these three steps are at the core of any cleanup. However, these steps are only done if it is safe to do so.

Larger spills or spills that present a serious hazard to personnel and/or property follow a different protocol. In some cases, it may be prudent to evacuate a building. Pulling a fire pull station is the most effective way to do this. It simultaneously notifies people to evacuate the building and alerts the fire department. People evacuating a building should always converge on one of the designated rally points outside the building. The Fire Department will establish Incident Command when they arrive on scene, and a hazardous materials contractor be may engaged to handle the cleanup as appropriate. Once the area is secured by the Incident Commander, it’s important for bystanders to respect that boundary for their own safety.