Hazmat: Handle with care
Proper distribution of hazardous materials requires a product handling plan, a well-designed facility and workers trained to tackle day-to-day tasks and the unexpected emergency.
By David Maloney, Senior Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/1/2004
In August of 2000, a fire broke out in a multiple-tenant warehouse in Phoenix. It started in an area housing home and garden supplies, including swimming pool chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. Flames spread rapidly due to the dangerous combination of chemicals there. Within minutes, the outer walls were collapsing.
The fire burned all night and left five firefighters injured. Some 80 people living nearby also had to be evacuated. Damage of the building and contents was estimated at more than $100 million. According to an investigation by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the cause of the Phoenix fire was improper handling and storage of hazardous materials.
While accidents that result in such huge losses are rare, warehouses that store hazardous materials face the risk of fire, explosion and injury everyday. Most of these facilities handle a variety of very common products that can fuel a fire in even small quantities.
A wide range of materials are classified by the government as hazardous – simple cleaning products, aerosol cans, industrial acids and highly explosive compounds. Even the white correction fluid distributed to corporate offices is classified as a hazardous material.
To begin, a materials safety data sheet (MSDS) must be created for each hazardous material stored within the facility.
'The MSDS should cover everything related to the chemical – how to handle it, the class of liquid, chemical properties, how to store it and what to do if there is a spill or emergency,' says Michael Walterschied, occupational safety and health specialist for OSHA.
The MSDS must be readily available to employees during the work shift, either on paper or in an easy-to-access computer. Classifications of various materials and their requirements can be found at OSHA's Web site, www.osha.gov, or through local OSHA offices.
'A warehouse or distributor has the responsibility to maintain these products and keep them from spilling while handling them,' says Sven Rundman, senior industrial hygienist for OSHA. 'They should also have a written plan that includes an emergency response if the product is to spill or leak.'
Rundman says that the plan needs to include information such as how to deal with the spill. Can in-house personnel complete the cleanup? Is there a risk of fire? Is evacuation necessary? Do local emergency teams have to be called in?
Other processes should also be defined, including how products should be physically moved and stored. Such processes may also affect the physical layout of the building.
Design for containment
Buildings that house hazardous materials need to be constructed to ensure that the materials are properly contained in case of a spill or fire.
'In designing a facility, we first look at the scale of the hazardous materials,' explains Dan Avila, a partner in Tompkins Associates, a supply chain design and consulting firm (800-789-1257, www.tompkinsinc.com). 'If there is a small amount of hazardous materials, we can locate it somewhere within the four walls of the facility.' Larger amounts, he says, may require a separate building just for hazardous materials.
One of Avila's clients is the General Services Administration of the U.S. Government. The GSA's western distribution center in Lathrop, Calif. holds many mid-to-low-level hazardous materials, such as paints, thinners and sealers.
'We rent the distribution building from the military, so we have to follow strict guidelines that are very safety conscious,' says Gene Chow, division director for GSA's western DC. 'We have an area partitioned off from the rest of the building to store our hazardous materials. The area is surrounded by a firewall, the floors are sealed and we have eye-wash stations and in-rack sprinklers.'
This design is typical of a hazardous materials area within a warehouse. Often, the area is a vault or a room constructed as a building within the building. It usually consists of concrete-filled cinderblock walls coated with a non-corrosive material to protect against spills.
Good ventilation is also essential. The air in a hazardous room should be changed at least six times an hour.
Sprinkler systems must be rated according to local fire codes and designed to match the types of chemicals and materials the room will hold. Foam may also be required to extinguish certain types of chemical fires.
Firewalls and doors should have at least a 4-hour rating. Many such doors have trip fuses. When the temperature in the room reaches a certain level, such as in a fire, the fuse melts and causes the door to automatically seal. The facility also needs a secondary containment system, such as a berm and gutter surrounding the hazardous area that is designed to collect any leakages or spills.
'The containment system needs to be able to handle 100% of the largest unit stored in the area or 10% of the aggregate,' says Avila.
A breed apart
Warehouses that store a variety of hazardous materials may need separate rooms to segregate products that, because of their chemical make-up, could cause fire or explosion if stored together.
'Incompatibility is a big issue,' says Guy Colonna, assistant vice president of engineering at NFPA (800-344-3555, www.NFPA.org). 'Combustibles must be kept away from oxidizers. They must be separated by distance and firewalls. Sometimes it is even better to store incompatible products in different buildings.'
Colonna explains that the intensity of a fire can be greatly magnified when products that are not compatible meet. Combustibles, such as gases, aerosols, paints and pesticides, are easily inflamed. Oxidizers, found in products such as pool chemicals, feed those fires.
'Proper characterization of the materials will lead to understanding the hazards,' adds Colonna. 'Refer to the proper codes to determine the separation and sprinkler design needs. If followed, there is a high probability that if a fire develops, it can be contained.'
Keeping products separate does not stop at storage, but should continue through picking and other warehouse operations as well. As with storage, certain chemicals should not be packed together. Additional dunnage may also be required when packing hazardous items to prevent containers from rupturing during transit.
'For the GSA design, we built a separate dock in and out of the hazardous area,' says Avila of Tompkins. 'Hazardous products there do not go through the main sorter. We created an environment where these products do not pass through the facility or endanger the employees.'
Outsource the handling
For some companies, it is easier to find an expert to help with the handling of their hazardous materials than to do it alone. Many leading producers of household and industrial chemicals, including Dow Chemical and The Scotts Company, choose third-party logistics providers (3PL) to store and distribute their products.
Crompton Corporation is a manufacturer and reseller of specialty chemical products used in roofing, automotive and agriculture.
'Historically, we distribute some products directly from our manufacturing plants and we also utilize regional public warehouses where it is an advantage to better serve our customers,' says Jim McGrath, distribution manager.
He says that the products Crompton produces and re-sells have a broad range of classifications. Company-owned warehouses, located near manufacturing plants, perform direct distribution only to certain Crompton accounts. These are separate buildings designed to handle specific products from the plants.
Most other products are distributed by the 3PLs. Using a third party eliminates the need to commit capital to construct facilities that can store all of their products, including the resale of chemicals manufactured by others.
'We go through a stringent protocol to qualify the public warehouse that works with us. They have to demonstrate an ability to handle our products safely and efficiently,' adds McGrath.
Brook Warehousing Systems (908-725-4343, www.brookwarehousing.com) is contracted to handle Crompton's distribution.
'We handle a range of products for clients, including flammable liquids, oxidizers, corrosives and peroxides,' says John Auger, vice president of engineering and regulatory compliance for Brook. 'The hazardous materials are well segregated within the building. These are based on requirements that come from codes, good practices and insurance and trade group recommendations.'
Auger adds that using a third party helps companies concentrate on their core competencies.
'If you are not set up to handle hazardous materials, then the investment is substantial. You have the facility, plus training and insurance costs also,' Auger continues.
Maintenance and training
Proper maintenance of materials handling equipment is important to properly handle hazardous materials. Conveyors, automatic guided vehicles and lift trucks can be a source of electrical sparks and therefore, potential fires. Many designs call for specially rated electric lift trucks to reduce possible ignition sources.
The best line of defense, though, is a human one. The people who work in the facility must be properly trained to handle the materials properly. They must also be alert to problems that could cause spills, fires and explosions.
'We do constant and recurring training of our people on leakage and containment procedures,' says the GSA's Chow. Workers should also be trained in securing hazardous materials from potential theft or assault.
'In the post 9-11 world we live in, security has become a major issue,' stresses Brook's Auger. He says that companies should have a security plan and make certain outsiders cannot easily access the hazardous materials they store.
Whether a storage issue, handling procedures or preventing potential dangers, the biggest advantage humans bring to the hazardous warehouse is their ability to think, or as Michael Walterschied of OSHA puts it, 'You have to use common sense as well.'
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