Does a Collateral Duty Require Less Protection: Workers,Hazardous Materials Emergency Response,and OSHA's Failure to Protect

Abstract

Waste management activities are widespread throughout most industrial sectors, and hazardous materials are a component of the waste of almost every aspect of industry. Workers with a collateral duty to engage in emergency response activities to a hazardous materials incident require health and safety protection. OSHA has failed to appropriately acknowledge this threat to workers and has been confusing and inconsistent in the interpretation and enforcement of its regulatory requirement for training workers with such a collateral duty. This article will discuss efforts on a national level to secure these protections, and provides an example of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) training program for workers with such a collateral duty in Toledo, Ohio. This evidence suggests that the provision of training to a majority of workers and supervisors involved in municipal waste management can greatly improve both worker and community health and safety. OSHA should revise 29 CFR 1910.120 and make its interpretation and enforcement of the standard consistent, in order to better protect workers with a collateral duty to respond to hazardous materials emergency incidents.