South Old Bridge Vol. Fire Co. Standard Operation Procedures for Hazardous Material Incidents

1. South Old Bridge Vol. Fire Co.Standard Operation Procedures for Hazardous Material Incidents

2. Scope Fires, spills, and other emergencies involving hazardous materials require that extreme caution be exercised in their handling. The Chief/Incident Commander has the responsibility to insure the protection of both the fire department personnel who respond and the general public from the hazards involved with dealing with such incidents.

3. Purpose The purpose of this Standard Operating Procedure is to assist the Chief/Incident‑Commander in bringing any haz‑mat incident to a successful conclusion. Incident Commanders should use common sense, and exercise their best judgment in any incident not covered by this Procedure. REMEMBER‑quick aggressive action has no place at a haz‑mat incident; "QUICK ACTION MAYBE THE WRONG ACTION." Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

4. Authorization Hazardous materials annex, dated 1/92, of the Old Bridge Twp. Emergency Operations Plan, authorizes the So. Old Bridge Vol. Fire Dept. to handle any and all hazardous materials incidents within its fire district. The fire department is also authorized to provide mutual aid to the remaining three fire districts in the township.

5. Definitions Cold Zone‑ The area immediately outside the Warm Zone. Control point‑ An area or station set up to regulate access to another area. Control zone‑ An area or zone(hot, decon, cold, exclusion), set up to control the spread of contamination and access to the areas, at a haz‑mat incident or site. Decontamination‑ The process of removing potentially harmful contaminants from exposed individuals and equipment, in order to reduce the spread of contamination in the work area, and to prevent inadvertent and unnecessary contact with contaminated materials. Decontamination Reduction Zone‑ The area, between the Hot and Cold Zones, where decontamination of all personnel and equipment takes place.

6. Definitions (continued) Exclusion Zone‑ The area outside the Cold Zone, beyond which the general public and any other unauthorized personnel are kept. Field Decon-Decontamination process that takes place on-site and/or outside of any structure. Hazardous material-any substance/s or material/s in quantities or forms which pose an unreasonable risk to health, safety, property, or the environment. Hazardous material incident-the release or potential release of a hazardous material into the environment. Hot Zone‑ The contaminated area immediately adjacent to any spilled or released product.

7. Definitions (continued) Incident Commander(I.C.)-the person responsible for all decisions relating to the management of the incident. Incident Management System(I.M.S.)-a system that is used to manage resources at an emergency incident. In-house decon-Decontamination process that takes place off-site and involves the use of a self-contained unit.

8. Initial Response Guidelines On any suspected haz‑mat incident, you should attempt to approach and remain upwind and uphill. The first arriving unit should attempt to determine the nature of the hazard with which it is involved‑i.e. flammable, toxic, reactive, corrosive, spill, leak or fire. Secure the scene and check for any ignition sources if necessary. The initial hot zone should be at least 100‑150' in all directions. Refer to the DOT Emergency Response Guidebook for possible changes to the dimensions of the initial hot zone. The first arriving unit should gather as much information as possible about the product/s involved. This information should be transmitted to the responding units of the haz‑mat team. Information gathering should be done from a "safe" distance, up wind and up hill from the potential hazard. See Section 4 for identification procedures and methods.

9. Section within SOP Section 1‑Scope & Purpose Section 2‑Definitions Section 3‑Initial Response Guidelines Section 4‑Identification Procedures Section 5‑Incident Management System Section 6‑Incident Levels

10. Section within SOP (continued) Section 7‑Control Zones Section 8‑Level of Protection Section 9‑Medical Monitoring Section 10‑Containment, Control & Confinement Section 11‑Decontamination Section 12‑Record keeping

11. Section within SOP (continued) Section 13‑Termination Section 14‑Special Considerations Section 15‑Training Appendix A-Forms Appendix B-Clean up companies Appendix C-Decon S-O-P Appendix D-Training Lesson Outlines & Plans

12. Right to Know Survay

13. The Right To Know Act • The New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Know Act became law in 1983. It requires public and private employers to give you information about hazardous substances at their workplaces.

14. The Act: • Tells public employees about chemical hazards at their workplace so they can work safely with these hazardous substances; • helps firefighters, police , and other emergency response personnel adequately plan for and respond to incidents such as fires, explosions or spills; • provides data for monitoring and tracking hazardous substances in the workplace and the environment.

15. Training Requirements • All personnel must receive initial R.T.K. training • minimum of 4 hours • Volunteer- within six months • Career - within one month • All personnel must receive Biennial update R.T.K. training • minimum of 2 hours

16. R.T.K. Survey • The survey consists of a facility information page and a chemical inventory both of which are updated annually with a complete inventory being submitted to the State every five years

17. R.T.K. Central File • The central file consists of the R.T.K. Survey, material safety data sheets, hazardous substance fact sheets and R.T.K.Hazardous substance list. • The central file is site specific and is located • Engine Co # 1 • Engine Co # 2 • Engine Co # 3

18. Material Safety Data Sheets • M.S.D.S. are provided by the manufacturers of specific products and give information regarding the chemical makeup of these products along with health and safety information

19. Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets • H.S.F.S. are made available to employers through the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services • H.S.F.S. are chemical specific with a considerable amount of information available for not only the employee but for emergency response personnel as well

20. R.T.K. Hazardous Substance List • This list is in book form and lists chemicals considered hazardous by the State of NJ as hazardous. • The listing is in Alphabetical order giving substance numbers, CAS #s, DOT #s, SHH codes, and Source #s

21. R.T.K. Survey • The survey consists of a facility information page and a chemical inventory both of which are updated annually with a complete inventory being submitted to the state every five years

22. A walk-through of each facility shall now be conducted