Throughout various industries, high amounts of hazardous waste are generated monthly. Companies are supposed to follow the proper RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) regulations, which include the proper identification, sorting, storage, and disposal of hazardous material to protect employees, the environment, and the general public. Unfortunately, these companies commit many violations all too often. Learn the top hazardous waste generator violations to watch for by reading below.
Any waste a company produces needs to be identified by its type to determine how the company should dispose of it. Hazardous waste cannot be disposed of with normal garbage. This could allow toxic substances to get into landfills, which gives them a route into the soil and groundwater. If a company is struggling to identify an unknown material, it should treat it as hazardous waste to eliminate any risk of dangerous disposal. Improper disposal is not only a risk to the public but also a liability for the company.
All hazardous waste-generating companies and facilities need special designated spaces to store hazardous waste until it’s picked up for disposal. A hazardous waste storage area should have adequate aisle space to allow all work personnel and emergency equipment to get in the aisle for removal or in the event of an emergency. Inadequate aisle space is a common violation that presents dangers on the work site.
One of the best ways for a company to ensure its hazardous waste storage area remains safe and following proper legal regulations is to conduct weekly inspections. Things the inspector should look for include containers that are leaking, corroding, or deteriorating. It’s recommended to have a backup inspector in case the main inspector can’t make it for some reason. Companies should document inspections in a log. If the inspector finds an issue, employees should be asked if they have tried to solve it and when they did so.
This is one of the top hazardous waste generator violations that will get a company into serious trouble. Companies must know exactly what hazardous waste they generate, how much they generate each month, and how big of a hazardous waste generator they are. These are some of the key details companies should know as RCRA hazardous waste generators. Lacking this knowledge becomes a slippery slope into other issues. For example, companies won’t know other important things such as how long they’ve stored waste on site and when it should be taken for disposal. These companies must make sure they’re always logging the types of hazardous waste they produce and how much they produce monthly to stay on track.
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