Idaho State University seeks to ensure the health and safety of all people who are a part of the University environment.  These include faculty, staff, students, contractors, volunteers, and visitors.  The policies and procedures in this manual were developed to meet that objective, insofar as hazardous waste is concerned.
    
3.1  Training Requirements and Responsibilities
     There are specific training requirements for individuals who work with hazardous waste.  These requirements are found in federal code and specify minimum training levels.  For this reason, personnel who are designated as departmental material handlers, laboratory supervisors, SAA coordinators, SAA managers, and waste generators must be properly trained to work with hazardous waste (see Chapter 6 for a discussion of SAA coordinators, SAA managers, and waste generators).  Special hazardous waste training may be requested for TAs, RAs, GAs, and other students in laboratories.

3.2  Custodial Employees
      Custodial employees must be considered when disposing of nonhazardous and hazardous solid waste.  These personnel must not encounter hazardous waste when maintaining floors, sinks, counter or bench tops, closets, or trash receptacles.  All sharp items, such as broken glassware and pipet tips,  need to be placed in an appropriately labeled container and not in the normal trash receptacles.  It is also a good practice to place non-hazardous powders in a sealed container or bag before throwing them into normal trash.  Custodial staff are given yearly hazardous waste awareness/safety training at their monthly safety meetings.  Any new custodial employee can request training from TSO at any time.

3.3  Maintenance and Operations Employees
      These employees frequently come into contact with potentially hazardous materials and hazardous wastes.  Examples include pesticides, cleaning agents, oil-based paints and stains, PCB oils, cylindered gases, automotive fluids, and shipments of incoming chemicals.  Some of these generate hazardous waste after usage.  If you work with any of these materials or mixtures and would like more detailed information concerning risks and precautions recommended for safe handling and disposal, obtain Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) or talk to a materials handler.

3.4  Hazard Communications
       It is important that each person who uses or is exposed to hazardous materials at the University has information available that will let them know the risks associated with exposure to the hazardous material.  The use of MSDS, reference texts, safety training, work demonstrations, videos, and medical monitoring can be beneficial for individuals who are potentially exposed to hazardous material and hazardous waste.  Hazard communication is usually the responsibility of the department heads or safety officers.
      The TSO would like to emphasize the importance of reading, understanding, and keeping all MSDS that come with chemicals.  MSDSs contain important information such as the hazards of the chemical, physical characteristics of the chemical, storage and handling instructions, and protective clothing and equipment that should be used for safe work.  TSO keeps training material on how to read and understand an MSDS in the office and is available upon request.  MSDS may also be found from several places on the internet.  Several of these sites are listed on TSO’s website at http://www.physics.isu.edu/health-physics/tso/msds.html.  Electronic copies should not replace the original copies as characteristics of chemicals could change during production and may vary with manufacturers.  MSDSs are also important means of characterizing a waste as hazardous or not.
      Chemical labeling is another important element of hazard communications.  Improper labeling may lead to serious injuries.  A good chemical label will include at least the following information: chemical identity written in English (not a chemical formula), expiration date of the chemical, physical hazards (such as fire or unusual reactivity), and any other physical characteristic of importance (such as odor).  These are just a few of several good labeling practices.  When an unlabeled chemical becomes a waste, it is very expensive to test the chemical for hazardous characteristics.  A few minutes with a permanent marker could save the University hundreds of dollars from analysis.

3.5  Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)
       Whenever hazardous materials, including hazardous wastes, are used or handled on campus, use of proper personal protection equipment should be considered to protect all potentially exposed personnel.  The degree of PPE used should commensurate with the hazard potential.  PPE includes, but is not limited to, safety glasses, chemical gloves, face shields, aprons, lab coats designed to offer splash protection, fume hoods, and filtering face masks.  It is advisable to train personnel in the use of PPE prior to initiation of activities involving any hazardous material, and to repeat the training whenever a significant change in use occurs.  Consult TSO personnel for assistance involving PPE.  PPE that has been contaminated by a hazardous material needs to be characterized as to whether or not it becomes a hazardous waste.

3.6 University Emergency and Disaster Response
       The TSO can respond to a variety of incidents which involve hazardous materials and hazardous waste.  It is best to be aware of the ways of reaching both Public Safety and the Technical Safety Office personnel PRIOR to an actual emergency.  Emergency telephone numbers are found at each SAA (in the front cover of the SAA binder), the TAA, and on the back cover of this manual.  Be sure to have these numbers handy in the event of a hazardous material spill, fire, or other emergency.  In the event that someone is hurt, immediately dial 911 and be sure to tell the dispatcher that hazardous materials may have been involved.  In the event of the loss of communications on campus, the TSO is located in room 101 of the Physical Science building.  

Technical Safety Office Idaho State University Campus Box 8106 785 S. 8th St. PS Rm 101  Pocatello, ID 83209 Phone: (208) 282-2310 or 282-2311 Fax: (208) 282-4649