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U.S. Department of Labor | ![]() |
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Occupational Safety & Health Administration |
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Standard Interpretations
08/27/1991 - OSHA's Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. |
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Standard Number: | 1910.120; 1910.120(a)(1); 1910.120(q)(1); 1910.38; 1910.120(q) |
August 27, 1991 Mr. Robert L. Brooks Certified Instructor Outreach Program Right to Know Management Systems Incorporated 113 Wembley Road Wilmington, Delaware 19808 Dear Mr. Brooks: This is in response to your inquiry of July 29, concerning the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response final rule (29 CFR 1910.120). Your specific question relates to the scope and application of 1910.120 concerning home heating oil distributors. For an employer to be covered by this rule, employees must be engaged in one of the following operations:
Under the emergency response program OSHA allows a conditional exemption from the emergency response requirements: 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(1): "Employers who will evacuate their employees from the work site location when an emergency occurs, and who do not permit any of their employees to assist in handling the emergency are exempt from the requirements of this paragraph if they provide an emergency action plan complying with [29 CFR 1910.38] of this part." Employers who are conditionally exempt and intend to evacuate employees from the danger area are not required to train employees to comply with the balance of 1910.120(q). Employers who intend to evacuate their employees would be expected, although not required by the standard, to call in outside assistance in the event of an emergency. However, it appears that the home heating oil distributor described in your letter does intend to direct their employees to respond to an emergency involving the release of hazardous substance. Therefore, the employer would be required to meet the requirements in 1910.120 paragraph (q). Again from your letter it appears that many of the requirements in paragraph (q) may have already been met through the development of the "Spill Prevention Control and Counter Measure Plan" and "instruction held on oil spill prevention, containment and retrieval methods and the "dry run" drill for an on site vehicular spill incident." OSHA refers you to paragraph (q) of the enclosed 1910.120 standard. A review and comparison of the paragraph's requirements and your aforementioned activities may be useful to identify any deficiencies in your effort to comply with 1910.120 paragraph (q). We hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact [the Office of Health Enforcement at (202) 693-2190]. Sincerely, Gerard F. Scannell Assistant Secretary [Corrected 1/17/03] |
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