WAC 296-849-110 Basic Rules

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Your Responsibility

To measure and minimize employee exposure to benzene

IMPORTANT:

To determine which requirements to follow for your work tasks, go to Table 1 in the Scope of this chapter, WAC 296-849-100.

You must

WAC 296-849-11010  

Preventive practices

You must

• Make sure containers of benzene in the workplace are labeled, tagged, or marked with this warning:

DANGER
CONTAINS BENZENE
CANCER HAZARD

WAC 296-849-11020 

Exposure control areas 

You must

• Establish temporary or permanent exposure control areas where airborne concentrations of benzene are above, or can be reasonably expected to be above, the permissible exposure limits (PELs) for benzene by doing all the following:
  • – Post signs at access points to exposure control areas that include this warning:

  DANGER
  Benzene
  Cancer Hazard
  Flammable - No Smoking
  Authorized Personnel Only
  Respirator Required

  • – Distinguish the boundaries of exposure control areas from the rest of the workplace in any way that minimizes employee access.
  • – Allow only authorized personnel to enter exposure control areas.

WAC 296-849-11030 

Exposure evaluations

IMPORTANT:

• When you conduct an exposure evaluation in a workplace where an employee uses a respirator, the protection provided by the respirator isn't considered.
• Following this section will fulfill the requirements to identify and evaluate respiratory hazards found in chapter 296-841 WAC, Airborne contaminants.
   

You must:

• Conduct an employee exposure evaluation to accurately determine airborne concentrations of benzene by completing Steps 1 through 7 of the exposure evaluation process, each time any of the following apply:
  • – No evaluation has been conducted.
    • You have up to 30 days to complete an evaluation once benzene is introduced into your workplace.
  • – Changes have occurred in any of the following areas that may result in new or increased exposures:
    • Production.
    • Processes.
    • Exposure controls such as ventilation systems or work practices.
    • Personnel.
  • – You have any reason to suspect new or increased exposure may occur.
  • – Spills, leaks, or other releases have been cleaned up.

Exposure Evaluation Process

IMPORTANT:

• If you are evaluating employee exposures during cleaning and repair of barges and tankers that contained benzene:
  • – Collect samples that effectively measure benzene concentrations that employees may be exposed to
    and
  • – Skip to Step 7
• Following the exposure evaluation process isn't necessary when you have documentation conclusively demonstrating benzene exposures for a particular operation and material can't exceed the action level (AL) during any conditions reasonably anticipated.
  • – Documentation can be based on data or qualitative information, such as information about:
    • The material
    • How the material is handled
    • The work conditions
  • – Retain this documentation for as long as you rely on it.

Step 1: Identify all employees who have potential airborne exposure to benzene in your workplace.

Step 2: Identify operations where 15-minute exposures could exceed benzene's short-term exposure limit (STEL) of 5 parts per million (ppm).

• Include operations where it's reasonable to expect high, 15-minute exposures, such as operations where:
  • – Tanks are opened, filled, unloaded, or gauged
  • – Containers or process equipment are opened
  • – Benzene is used as a solvent for cleaning

Step 3: Select employees from those working in the operations you identified in Step 2 who will have their 15-minute exposures measured.

Step 4: Select employees from those identified in Step 1 who will have their 8-hour exposures monitored.

• Make sure the exposures of the employees selected represent 8-hour exposures for all employees identified at Step 1, including each job classification, work area, and shift.

Step 5: Determine how you will obtain employee monitoring results.

• Select and use a method that's accurate to ±25%, with a confidence level of 95%.

Step 6: Obtain employee exposure monitoring results by collecting air samples representing employees identified at Step 1.

• Collect 15-minute samples from employees selected at Step 3.
• Sample at least one shift representative of the 8-hour exposure for each employee selected at Step 4.
• Make sure samples are collected from each selected employee's breathing zone.
• Collecting area samples is permitted after emergency releases.

Step 7: Have the samples you collected analyzed to obtain monitoring results representing 8-hour and 15-minute exposures.

• Go to the scope of this chapter, WAC 296-849-100, and compare employee exposure monitoring results to the values found in Step 2a and follow Step 2b to determine if additional sections of this chapter apply.

WAC 296-849-11040

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

You must

• Make sure employees use appropriate PPE as protection from skin or eye contact with liquid benzene.

WAC 296-849-11050

Training

You must

• Provide training and information to employees:
  • – At the time of initial assignment to a work area where benzene is present
    and
  • – At least every 12 months after initial training for employees exposed to airborne concentrations at or above the action level (AL) of 0.5 parts per million (ppm).
• Make sure training and information includes all of the following:
  • – Specific information on benzene for each hazard communication training topic. For the list of hazard communication training topics, go to the Safety and Health Core Rules, chapter 296-800 WAC, and find Inform and train your employees about hazardous chemicals in your workplace, WAC 296-800-17030
    and
  • – An explanation of the contents of each of the following and guidance about where to find a copy:
    • This chapter
    • The following found in another chapter, the General Occupational Health Standards, chapter 296-62 WAC:
    • - The substance safety data sheet -benzene, found in WAC 296-62-07525, Appendix A
    • - The substance technical guidelines -benzene, found in WAC 296-62-07527, Appendix B
    • - The medical surveillance guidelines for benzene, found in WAC 296-62-07529, Appendix C
      
    and
  • – A description of the medical evaluation requirements of this chapter found in:
    • Medical evaluations, WAC 296-849-12030
      and
    • Medical removal, WAC 296-849-12050

WAC 296-849-11065

Exposure monitoring observation

You must

(1) Provide affected employees and their designated representatives an opportunity to observe exposure monitoring during Step 6 of the exposure evaluation process found in Exposure evaluations, WAC 296-849-11030.

(2) Make sure observers who enter areas with benzene exposure:

• Are provided with and use the same protective clothing, respirators, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that employees working in the area are required to use
  and
• Follow safety and health requirements that apply

WAC 296-849-11070

Notification

You must

• Provide written notification of exposure monitoring results to the employees represented by your exposure evaluation within 5 business days after the monitoring results become known to you.
  • – In addition, when employee exposure monitoring results are above a permissible exposure limit (PEL), provide written notification of all of the following within 15 business days after these exposure monitoring results become known to you:
    • Corrective actions being taken and a schedule for completion
      and
    • Any reason why exposures can't be lowered to below the PELs for benzene.

WAC 296-849-11090

Exposure records

You must

• Establish and keep complete and accurate records for all exposure monitoring conducted under this chapter. Make sure the record includes at least:
  • – The name, Social Security number, or other unique identifier, and job classification of the employee sampled and all other employees represented by the sampled employee.
  • – The type of respirator worn, if any.
  • – A description of the methods used to obtain exposure monitoring results.
  • – A description of the procedure used to obtain representative employee exposure monitoring results.
  • – The date, number, duration, and the result of each sample taken.

You must

• Keep exposure monitoring records for at least 30 years.