Inspecting Drums and Containers
When practical, drums and containers must be inspected, and their integrity must be assured before being moved.
Site operations must be organized to minimize the amount of drum or container movement.
- Drums or containers that cannot be inspected before being moved because of storage conditions (i.e., buried beneath the earth, stacked behind other drums, stacked several tiers high in a pile, etc.) must be moved to an accessible location and inspected before further handling.
- Unlabeled drums and containers must be considered to contain hazardous substances and handled accordingly until the contents are positively identified and labeled.
- Site operations must be organized to minimize the amount of drum or container movement.
- Before movement of drums or containers, all employees exposed to the transfer operation must be warned of the potential hazards associated with the contents of the drums or containers.
- U.S. Department of Transportation specified salvage drums or containers, and suitable quantities of proper absorbent must be kept available and used in areas where spills, leaks, or ruptures may occur.
- Where major spills may occur, a spill containment program, which is part of the employer's safety and health program, must be implemented to contain and isolate the entire volume of the hazardous substance being transferred.
- Drums and containers that cannot be moved without rupture, leakage, or spillage must be emptied into a sound container using a device classified for the material being transferred.
- A ground-penetrating system or other type of detection system or device must be used to estimate the location and depth of buried drums or containers.
- Soil or covering material must be removed with caution to prevent drum or container rupture.
- Fire extinguishing equipment meeting the requirements of 29 CFR Part 1910, Subpart L, must be on hand and ready for use to control incipient fires.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
3-2. Unlabeled drums and containers must be considered to contain _____ and handled accordingly until the contents are positively identified and labeled.
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