Part 171.1 of 49 CFR discusses applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to persons and functions. These functions include pre transportation activity involved in identifying and preparing hazardous materials shipment. It is the duty of each hazmat employer to comply with the applicable requirements of the regulations and to thoroughly instruct each hazmat employee.

In addition, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) includes provisions that acceptance staff be able to detect and identify hazardous materials that may be found in baggage. Found in each of these regulations are training requirements to inform individuals of the risks involved and provide a detailed understanding of the regulations.

To illustrate the continuing need for compliance awareness and training, the FAA is proposing to fine a Florida company $168,000 for offering for transport a soldering iron in passenger cargo that contained butane fuel. The company allegedly offered the material for transport without the proper classification, packaging and labeling requirements in the regulations.

Training and the awareness provided gives employers and employees the knowledge to be current, compliant and reduce the associated risks for the company and public at large.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) No.10017 on October 10, 2010. The subject of this SAFO pertains to the “Risks in Transporting Lithium Batteries in Cargo by Aircraft” and is intended to alert operators to the recent findings from the FAA William Hughes Technical Center test results on the particular propagation characteristics that are associated with lithium batteries. FAA tests follow the United Parcel Service (UPS) Flight 006 crash in the United Arab Emirates on September 3, 2010. Although investigation of the crash is still underway, and the cause of the crash has not been determined, investigators are aware that the plane’s cargo did include large quantities of lithium batteries. In coordination with the FAA, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is considering the best course of action to address the risk posed by lithium batteries. In the interim, SAFO 10017 includes recommended action that carriers should consider adopting when transporting lithium batteries.

FAA tests have demonstrated how lithium ion cells are flammable and capable of self-ignition that occurs when a battery short circuits, is overcharged, is heated to extreme temperatures, is mishandled, or is defective. Lithium ion batteries, like lithium metal batteries, can be subject to thermal runaway. Thermal runaway is a chain reaction that occurs when sufficient heat is generated to cause adjacent cells to go into thermal runaway. A battery in thermal runaway can reach temperatures above 593°C (>1,100°F), which exceeds the ignition temperature of most Class A materials, including paper and cardboard. These temperatures are also very close to the melting point of aluminum; 660°C (1,220°F). Though the result of thermal runaway in a lithium metal cell is a more severe event than a lithium ion cell in thermal runaway. The lithium metal cell releases a flammable electrolyte mixed with molten lithium metal, results in an explosive mixture.

The explosive potential of lithium metal cells can easily damage (and potentially perforate) cargo liners, or activate the pressure relief panels in a cargo compartment. Either of these circumstances can potentially lead to a loss of Halon 1301 (the suppression agent found in Class C cargo compartments), allowing rapid fire spread within a cargo compartment to other flammable materials. For this reason, lithium metal cells are currently prohibited as bulk cargo shipments on passenger carrying aircraft.

To demonstrate the safety risk that encased or enclosed lithium metal batteries may pose, two types of robust, readily available containers were tested at the FAA Tech Center: five gallon steel pails with crimp on gasketed lids, and 30 gallon steel drums with bolt closed ring seals and gasketed metal lids. For both types of container, as few as six loose CR2 lithium metal cells were sufficient to cause failure when induced into thermal runaway by an electric cartridge heater. The confined electrolyte and the molten lithium ignition source formed an explosive condition, forcefully separating the lid from the container. The explosive force in this test was likely high enough to cause physical damage to an aircraft’s Class C cargo compartment.

A container specially designed to ship lithium metal batteries would need to demonstrate that it can withstand this explosive condition. Commonly available metal shipping containers, pails and drums, are not designed to withstand a lithium metal cell fire. There are currently no approved and tested containers that can sufficiently contain the known effects of accidental lithium metal battery ignition.

Until then, the FAA recommends that all air carriers institute the following additional procedures for safely transporting lithium batteries by aircraft:

1. Request customers to identify bulk shipments of currently excepted lithium batteries by information on airway bills and other documents provided by shippers offering shipments of lithium batteries.
2. Where feasible and appropriate, stow bulk shipments of lithium batteries in Class C cargo compartments or in locations where alternative fire suppression is available.
3. Evaluate the training, stowage, and communication protocols in your operation with respect to the transportation of lithium batteries in the event of an unrelated fire.
4. Pay special attention to ensuring careful handling and compliance with existing regulations covering the air transportation of Class 9 hazardous materials, including lithium batteries.

These recommendations are limited to lithium batteries transported in the cargo hold of an aircraft (including cargo holds that are not distinct from the flight deck), and do not apply to lithium batteries carried onboard by passengers and crewmembers, or otherwise stowed in the passenger cabin of the aircraft. Also, these recommendations are not exclusive. The FAA hopes that carriers will use the information provided in SAFO 10017 and in their Tech Center study, together with any other available information, to consider other reasonable measures they believe appropriate to mitigate the risk of transporting lithium batteries by air.

Many people die each year in warehouse incidents. Others are disabled. Many are injured. Those racks, stacks and pallets that fill the workspace from end to end and floor to ceiling contain many hazards. Some are hidden. Others are obvious. Some warehouse equipment is inherently dangerous. The risks can be increased by lack of training, poor maintenance, and lack of protective guards and safety procedures.

Warehouse work may involve heavy lifting and carrying, with frequent repetitions. Some warehouse work takes place in hazardous locations and may involve hazardous materials. Fire is a common concern, complicated in some cases by the presence of flammable materials and packaging. Air quality can be a silent, often invisible, hazard in some warehouses. Exhausts from internal combustion motors on forklifts and on vehicles left idling at loading docks, gases vented from batteries and battery chargers for electric-powered forklifts, dust and gases shed and vented from materials in storage and their packaging are all potentially dangerous. Some gases, like carbon monoxide, are poisonous; others may cause cancers or aggravate allergies.

A few warehouses are also retail stores. These environments present many challenges, but they also set excellent examples. The designs, plans and operating procedures used in such establishments must allow for the fact that customer behaviour is unpredictable and hard to control. Extraordinary measures help ensure customer and worker safety. Such high standards may not be practical or necessary where access is restricted, but there are lessons to be learned from retail store procedures.

Frequent safety assessments and regular safety reviews and inspections are recommended. Most warehouse workers are familiar with the hazards of their work and the necessary preventive measures. The challenge for them and their managers is to guard against the kind of familiarity that brings carelessness or false confidence. You could use a check list like the one below to identify the hazards in your warehouse:

Checklist of common warehouse hazards

• slips and falls from slippery or cluttered floors
• falls and other incidents due to inadequate lighting, including emergency lighting
• slips or falls from ladders
• injuries from falling objects, racks or rack components
• crushing injuries and trauma from material-handling equipment and processes
• cuts and amputations from knives, cutters, saws, packaging tools and materials
• burns from electrical conductors or hot equipment
• back pain from lifting heavy or awkward loads or using awkward postures
• allergies and skin disorders from contact with metals and contaminated packages, inhalation of dusts and plant materials
• illness due to exposure to chemicals and pesticides, or contact with infectious materials
• carbon monoxide poisoning from lift-truck exhausts
• battery-charging hazards
• soreness and/or loss of function in wrists and arms from repeated awkward movements or vibration
• fire, frequently complicated by the presence of hazardous and flammable materials and flammable packaging

Transport Canada announced yesterday that office-size toner cartridges would be forbidden in checked bags or carry-on bags. Operators will not be permitted to transport these cartridges as cargo on passenger flights.

These measures are being put in place as a result of two (2) packages that were found on October 29. This is just a knee-jerk reaction by our federal government. I can understand not permitting anything from or through Yemen or Somalia, but why hasn’t the federal government banned shoes and underwear from passenger aircraft? If you remember, there was the so called shoe bomber who tried to light his shoes and just last year the flight into Detroit where an idiot tried to light his underwear.

If the competent authorities (now there’s an oxymoron) insist that shoes be inspected, why is it there is no consistency? On a flight from the US to Canada, I had to remove my shoes, but the gentleman behind did not ‘because his shoes are runners and don’t contain any metal’. Anybody know how much metal there was in the shoes or underwear of the two attempted bombings? And if there was any, why didn’t the security agents find it during inspection?

Let’s get a grip people. Yes, security is a part of life today, but do we have to jump to whenever some idiot tries something? The terrorists are probably laughing their heads off just watching the western world impose additional restrictions that really are not going to do anything. At what point do we stop – when international commerce comes to a grinding halt?

See Transport Canada’s press release for more information.

Cleaning the house is an easy way to stay healthy, unless you manage to kill yourself doing it. Here are five cleaning dangers you face when sprucing up.

1. Mixing Amonnia and Bleach

This is the mother of all cleaning mishaps, and hopefully your mother told you not to do it. There are a lot of cleaning supplies out there with pretty clever names. The only way to know for sure that you’re not mixing up a weapon of mass destruction is to READ those labels. In case your mom didn’t tell you, mixing bleach and ammonia can kill you. The nitty-gritty details of the chemical reaction aren’t important, but the end result is a release of chlorine gas. Chlorine gas is so dangerous, it was used as a chemical warfare agent in World War I.

2. Moving Germs Around the House

It can be easy to get caught up in the act of cleaning spaces and forget to clean ourselves. Be careful not to move the nasty little critters that live in your bathroom to the kitchen counter. The best prevention for spreading disease is to wash your hands – thoroughly and often.

3. Absorbing Chemicals Through Your Skin

Besides mixing bleach and ammonia, there are plenty of other household chemicals that can cause damage. Many of them can be absorbed through the skin or chemically burn layers of the skin. Use rubber gloves to protect your hands and long sleeves to protect your arms. Don’t forget to maintain the gloves, either. Worn and cracked rubber gloves don’t offer much protection.

4. Splashing Cleaners in Your Eyes

Now that we’ve protected our skin, let’s protect our eyes as well. Eye protection would help keep cleaning agents out of your eyes. In case you still manage to hold that blue glass cleaner backwards and squirt it into your eye, make sure you know how to flush out that chemical from your eyes. Flushing the eyes with water is the preferred treatment to remove foreign objects or chemical contamination from the eyes.

5. Falling Off of a Ladder

We’ve successfully handled household hazmat, just to fall off the ladder trying to get those six-year-old spider webs in the corner of the entryway. Practice proper ladder safety to keep from breaking a leg.