Labor & Industries (L&I), Washington State

Hazardous Waste Operations Chapter 296-843, WAC

Effective Date: 05/01/04

Training, Briefings, and Information WAC 296-843-200

For printing

Your responsibility:

To make sure employees and subcontractors have the training and information needed to work safely

You must

Inform workers and employers about the hazardous waste site	WAC 296-843-20005
Train workers, supervisors and managers before work begins on the site	WAC 296-843-20010
Provide additional training to your managers and supervisors	WAC 296-843-20015
Training for post-emergency response	WAC 296-843-20020
Make sure your employees receive written documentation of training	WAC 296-843-20025
Provide refresher training to employees	WAC 296-843-20030
Use qualified trainers	WAC 296-843-20035

IMPORTANT:

If law enforcement personnel participate in clean-up activities, they must receive appropriate hazardous waste clean-up training as described in this chapter.

WAC 296-843-20005
Inform workers, contractors and subcontractors about the hazardous waste site.

You must

• Inform employees, contractors, and subcontractors or their representatives about:
  • – The nature, level, and degree of exposure to hazardous substances they're likely to encounter.
  • – All site-related emergency response procedures.
  • – Any identified potential fire, explosion, health, safety, or other hazards.
• Conduct briefings for employees, contractors, and subcontractors, or their representatives as follows:
  • – A pre-entry briefing before any site activity is started.
  • – Additional briefings, as needed, to make sure that the site-specific HASP is followed.
  • – Make sure all employees working on the site are:
    • Informed of any risks identified.
    • Trained on how to protect themselves and other workers against the site hazards and risks
• Update all information to reflect current sight activities and hazards.

WAC 296-843-20010
Train workers, supervisors and managers before work begins on the site

IMPORTANT:

• The 80-hour training requirement does not apply to law enforcement personnel entering illicit drug labs, securing the premises, and obtaining evidence. Attendance at a 40-hour training course, such as presented by the criminal justice training commission, is acceptable.
• These training requirements don’t apply to workers engaged in limited post emergency response activities provided they meet the conditions described in WAC 296-843-20020.

You must

• Make sure workers have received 24-, 40- or 80-hour training as required by Table 3 before participating in hazardous waste operations.
• Make sure workers also receive site-specific training that thoroughly covers at least the following:
  • – The personnel responsible for employee safety and health
  • – Safety, health, and other hazards known or suspected at the site
  • – Use of personal protective equipment
  • – Work practices to minimize worker's risk from the hazards
  • – Use of engineering and other controls and equipment on the site
  • – Medical surveillance provided
  • – Recognition of signs and symptoms that might indicate overexposure to site hazards
  • – The contents of the site-specific health and safety plan (HASP) required by this chapter.

Note: The site-specific training can be provided as part of the 24-, 40- or 80-hour training or as part of the employee briefings provided all training and information requirements of WAC 296-843-200 are met.

Table 3
Training Requirements

If	Then	Notes
Work and exposures require use of atmosphere supplying respirators	Provide 80 hours of training and 3 days of supervised on-site field experience	80-hour training may be fulfilled as follows: One 80-hour training session with emphasis on hazards requiring the use of atmosphere-supplying respirators and of chemical protective clothing, or One 40-hour training class as described below and an additional 40 hours of training that emphasizes hazards requiring the use of atmosphere-supplying respirators and of chemical protective clothing Refresher training, previous courses, supervised field experience, and previous work experience may count towards the additional 40 hours, if it improves the worker's competency to use respirators and chemical protective clothing ensembles and procedures.
Work and exposures may exceed the PEL or require protective clothing but don’t require atmosphere supplying respirators	Provide 40 hours of training and 3 days of supervised on-site field experience	Workers with 24 hours of training may become 40 hour trained with 16 hours of off-site training and 2 additional days of supervised on-site field experience
Workers are occasionally on-site to perform specific limited tasks and unlikely to be exposed above PELs or other published exposure limits	Provide 24 hours of training and one day of supervised on-site field experience
Workers are regularly onsite but work in areas fully characterized and monitored, with exposure under the PELs or other published exposure limits: No need for respirators No health hazards No possibility of an emergency	Provide 24 hours of training and one day of supervised on-site field experience
Workers are at TSD Facilities under normal operations (this doesn’t include corrective actions clean-up at these facilities).	Provide 24 hours of training and one day of supervised on-site field experience
Employees perform emergency response activities	Train workers to a level of competence in site emergencies, consistent with their assigned duties, to protect themselves and other employees
Workers qualify for limited post-emergency response clean-up training	Provide at least 8 hours of training	See WAC 296-843-20020, Training for Post-emergency Response, for detailed training information
Workers have been previously trained (includes equivalent training)	Provide site-specific training, briefings and information required by this chapter and supervised field experience on the site of one day for 24 hours and 3 days for 40-or 80-hours trained workers	Document equivalent training and work experience as required by WAC 296-843-20025.

Note: When calculating “training hours,” WISHA assumes a “normal” workday of 8 hours with sufficient time for lunch and other breaks.

WAC 296-843-20015
Provide additional training to your managers and supervisors

You must

• Make sure the following receive appropriate training:
  • – On-site managers
  • – Supervisors responsible for hazardous waste operations
  • – Supervisors who directly supervise employees in hazardous waste operations.
• Make sure such supervisors and on-site managers receive the same training as that required by the workers they supervise (see WAC 296-843-20010).
• Make sure such supervisors and managers receive a minimum of 8 additional hours of specialized training including the following information:
  • – Written site-specific health and safety plan (HASP):
    • Training plan
    • Personal protective equipment (PPE) plan
    • Spill containment plan
    • Emergency management procedures to use when a release of hazardous substances occurs
    • Federal, state, and local agencies to be contacted if there’s a release of hazardous substances
    • Sampling and monitoring plan (including procedures and techniques for monitoring health hazards).
• – Managing hazardous wastes and their disposal.

WAC 296-843-20020
Training for post emergency response

You must

• Provide workers who participate only in limited post emergency response clean-up operations with a minimum of 8 hours of training, when these conditions are met:
  • – Cleanup is at a site that’s a hazardous waste operation only because of an emergency response.
  • – Clean-up work is directly supervised by someone who has completed at least 40 hours of training in hazardous waste operations as required in this chapter.
  • – Written documentation is maintained at the work site supporting less than 24 hours of training.
  • – The work:
    • Is performed in an area that has been monitored and fully characterized by a qualified person as an area where employee exposure can’t exceed PELs or other published exposure levels
    • Doesn’t require using respiratory protection
    • Doesn’t require entry into permit-required confined spaces
    • Involves minimal health risks from skin exposure and absorption that are effectively controlled by PPE.
• – Workers have received training in your emergency response plan and hazard communication program.

Reference: For additional information, see WAC 296-843-160, Emergency Response, and WAC 296-800-170, Employer Chemical Hazard Communication.

You must

• Make sure workers complete any other safety and health training needed to perform assigned clean-up tasks in a safe and healthful manner.
  • – Training may include topics such as the following:
    • Safety hazards and controls
    • The content and availability of the site-specific health and safety plan
    • Decontamination procedures
    • Operating procedures related to assigned clean-up tasks
    • PPE use and limitations
    • Hands-on exercises for PPE and decontamination
    • Information about heat stress and hypothermia.
• Make sure workers have been trained within the last 12 months.

WAC 296-843-20025
Make sure your employees receive written documentation of training

You must

• Certify and document annually that each manager, supervisor, and worker has either:
  • – Attended and successfully completed the training required by this section

    or

  • – Demonstrated their competency.
    • Record and maintain the method used to demonstrate competency.
• Make sure your employees and supervisors who complete required training and field experience receive written training documentation authenticated by the responsible trainer.
• Provide a copy of the certification or documentation to your employee upon request.

Note: Equivalent training may include academic or work-related training that covers subjects required by this chapter.

WAC 296-843-20030
Provide refresher training to employees

You must

• Make sure all certified employees, supervisors, and managers receive 8 hours of refresher training at least every 12 months that covers:

  - The topics specified in WAC 296-843-200.

  - Assessments or evaluations of work-related incidents

  - Any other relevant topics.

WAC 296-843-20035
Use qualified trainers

You must

• Use trainers that:

  - Have demonstrated competent instructional skills.

  - Demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter and have either:

  • Satisfactorily completed a training program in the subject
    or
  • Have the academic credentials and instructional experience needed for teaching the subject.