OSHA is in the midst of investigating a spill at a Pennsylvania manufacturing plant.

It appears that last week at Electric Materials Co., an employee, who works in the plant’s plating department,  was seriously injured when a mixture was dumped into a barrel containing other chemicals, causing a reaction. The employee remains hospitalized. In addition to this employees hospitalization, another 19 employees were treated for exposure, when a vapor cloud swept slowly through most of the 440,000-square-foot plant, exposing numerous workers to the chemicals. To read more about this incident, see the full article here.

While accidents like this can not always be avoided, but in this case certain steps could have been taken to help avoid this confusion, and ultimately, the employee injuries.

The container in which the employee dumped other chemicals, should have been properly labeled.  Labels offer the ability to clearly identify the contents inside drums and barrels to avoid confusion. While the employee may have seen other chemicals in the container, perhaps he did not know that they would be reactive with the chemicals he had to dispose of.   In that case, a great resource for employees would be a Labeling and MSDS Station.   MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) is a document that contains material specific information regarding component makeup, safe use practices,  storage requirements,  safe handling precautions,  personal protective equipment recommendations,  emergency procedures and potential health hazardous associated with the hazardous material. OSHA requires all employers to inform their employees of the chemical hazard present in their workplace though the use of MSDS’s, training and labeling.  Check out Seton.com today for all types of chemical and hazardous safety products.

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