Grey Nuns Community Hospital Chemical Spill / Hazardous Material
Introduction This plan addresses the UgeneralU procedures to be followed for a spill involving a hazardous substance. Some departments will follow procedures that have been developed specifically for their area, and for the substances that they handle (eg. Laboratory, Pharmacy, Radiology) should a spill occur. Definitions Hazardous Substance May be a liquid, gas or solid Minor Spill Minor spills are those spills that do not fit the requirements of emergency spills. All departments are to have procedures to clean up minor spills including spill kits. Hazardous Substance A chemical, biological (including blood and body fluid) material which, because of quantity, concentration, or physical/chemical/infectious characteristics may pose a threat to human health or the environment when improperly treated, handled, stored and transported, and disposed of. Emergency Spill A hazardous substance spill is considered an emergency spill whenever it: Causes personal injury or chemical exposure that requires medical attention; Causes a fire hazard or uncontrollable volatility; Requires a need for breathing apparatus of the supplied air or self-contained type to handle the material involved; Involves or contaminates a public area or an occupied patient room; Causes airborne contamination that requires local or building evacuation;
Causes a spill that cannot be controlled or isolated; Involves any quantity of metallic mercury or radioactive material; Cannot be properly handled due to lack of local trained personnel and/or equipment to perform a safe, effective clean up; Requires prolonged or overnight clean up; Involves an unknown substance; or Enters the land or water Incident Commander Person assuming command and directing the response and cleanup of hazardous substance spill. What do to in the Event of a Hazardous Substance Spill All departments or programs shall follow these general guidelines: MINOR SPILLS; Does not fit the requirements for Emergency Spills and can be safely handled by staff. Secure supplies and personal protective equipment Contain spill, notify others in area of spill and control access to area Leave on or turn on exhaust ventilation if safe to do so If any injuries, seek/provide medical attention EMERGENCY SPILL; Large in diameter, cannot be controlled, isolated or properly handled by staff safely and effectively. Causes or may cause personal injury and requires supplied air or self contained type breathing apparatus. Potential to cause a fire or uncontrolled volatility. Assume that the spill is hazardous. Move people away from the spill area to prevent exposure Isolate the area. Close doors and windows if applicable. Prevent entry as
necessary. Protect yourself, then assist any injured or contaminated persons by providing basic first aid; remove contaminated clothing flush skin/eyes with water for at least 15 minutes to 30 minutes or as recommended on the MSDS use soap for intermediate and final cleaning of skin areas. Notify area/department manager. Assess whether spill can be properly cleaned up by departmental staff (onhand resources and expertise) or if assistance is required. If assistance is required, call the Housekeeping Manager/Supervisor or designate to assist. Facilities Management Services will act as a resource regarding the spill. Do not touch the spill without protective clothing. If flammable vapours are involved, do not operate electrical switches unless to turn off motorized equipment. Try to turn off or remove heat sources where safe to do so. If the substance involved is an unknown, then emergency spill response procedures are limited to self-protection, isolation of the chemical, and evacuating and securing the area involved until assistance arrives. Housekeeping Responsibilities Housekeeping responds to the area and assesses the spill. They determine if they can safely clean up the spill, or if they need assistance from Facilities Management or the Edmonton Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team. Depending on the situation, the Housekeeping Manager/Supervisor or the Facilities Management Manager/designate becomes the Incident Commander. See Incident Commander section.
Switchboard Responsibilities Contact #66 Call Edmonton Fire Department for their Hazardous Materials Team. If radioactive material is involved, contact Radiation Safety Officer Page Security to report to the area. Page Code Brown and location on the overhead paging system. Announce All Clear once incident has been cleared. Protective Services Responsibilities Report to affected area. As appropriate, help secure area. Escort Edmonton Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team to location. Facilities Management Responsibilities Search for MSDS information and review spill requirements. Initiate smoke control/evacuation sequence for the affected area. Assist with communicating MSDS information to the Incident Commander.
Incident Commander Evaluate the hazard, risk and determine the following: the name and estimate the volume of the hazardous material the hazards of the material (consult the MSDS) the need to confine the spilled product/material the need to shut down mechanical systems or air handling systems the potential for environmental contamination the need for protective clothing/equipment In consultation with the Executive On-call, determine if Code Brown should be announced (once the call goes through to have the Switchboard announce Code Brown, the Switchboard will call the Edmonton Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team and alert Security to respond to the area) Upon determining the incident level, the Incident Commander will take reasonable measures necessary to ensure that the incident is appropriately contained, responded to, and cleaned up. These measures may include: Stopping operations Evacuating work areas Shutting down air handling systems Protecting nearby storm sewers Collecting and/or containing released wastes and removing containers Work with specially trained/experienced staff to implement clean-up strategies. Work with the Executive On-call to determine if services need to be relocated (refer to Code Green response). Document incident per Documentation section of this procedure.
Incident Termination The Incident Commander or designate shall determine when an emergency incident is over. This decision may be based on input from the Emergency Response Team and / or outside emergency responders. When determining an emergency has ended, the Incident Commander will consider: Remaining potential threat to human health and the environment Whether the incident has ceased or is under control Whether it is safe for workers to enter evacuated areas Clean up of site Radiation Decontamination At Caritas sites, contact the Nuclear Medicine Radiation Safety Officer. Radiology has specific clean-up procedures for nuclear substances. Cytotoxic Spills For cytotoxic spills, refer to Section 13 of the Cytotoxic Manual; Administration and Handling Guidelines, on-line @ 0TU0TUhttp://www.intranet2.capitalhealth.ca/pharmacy/U0T0T Documentation If a spill puts patients, clients, residents, visitors or Upatient/residentU property at risk, it shall be reported on the netsafe system (per General Manual Policy/Procedure #I-D-5, netsafe Incident Reporting and Follow-up). If a staff injury occurs due a hazardous spill this is reported using the Employee Incident and Injury Reporting and Investigation Form (refer to General Manual Policy/Procedure #II-50, On-the-job Injury/Illness). All hazardous substance spills shall be reported in writing to the Joint Worksite Health and Safety Committee, regardless of size. The report shall include the date, time, location, chemical(s) and their volume, and names of all persons involved, including any visitors who were exposed and personnel involved in the clean up. A copy of this report shall also be kept by the JWHS committee. Complete the Incident Report form as per Covenant Health Policy I-25 and forward to Office Hazardous substance spills are considered a workplace incident and must be reported to the site Occupational Health and Safety Office.
Spill Occurs Emergency Response Code Evacuate immediate work area Isolate area and deny entry except to Emergency Responders Notify Supervisor or Site/Sector Executive Lead No Staff injured or exposed? Yes First Aid and/or Immediate Medical Care provided Establish Incident Command and classify spill. No Emergency Spill? Yes Clean up spill following Minor Chemical Spill Cleanup Procedure. Notify Site Security Services Incident Command, Security and other spill experieced personnel determine most appropriate method of containing spill, responding to spill and spill clean up. No Are external resources required? Yes Clean up spill following Emergency Chemical Spill Cleanup Procedure. Access Emergency Responders (Call 911) Appropriate resources cleans up spill Incident Commander determines if incident if over and if it is safe for employees to enter evacuated area. Report Incident to OHS & W/Complete documentation End