Drum Handling Protocols Must Provide For Safety

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Arts )



You'll probably become concerned about drum handling procedures when you are handling hazardous substances. If the contents are safe substances, such as various powdered chemical compounds used in industry, then your drum handling equipment can be conventional construction equipment such as front-end loaders.

But if drums contain flammable materials, radioactive waste or other hazardous substances, you'll want to make sure your drum handling procedures and accompanying drum handling equipment will prevent any accidents.

Much of the equipment used for drum handling has been specifically adapted for safe handling of hazardous wastes. When you cannot avoid using ordinary construction equipment, you can equip backhoes and loaders with safety shields or other modifications to reduce potential safety hazards.

For instance, you can make the bucket teeth in your front-loader non-sparking (to prevent explosions) by putting on non-metallic caps or a special bar to prevent drum rupture. One particular drum handling modification is a flexible barrel grappler attachment, which you can fit to a hydraulic backhoe. The grappler can grab and lift various sizes of drums from any angle and relocate them without manual assistance.

There are protocols that have been developed for safe and efficient drum handling. These methods provide preventive measures against drum ruptures, explosions, fires, and other risks. They include:

• Have separate areas for staging the drums and for opening drums, consolidating their contents, equipment decontamination and temporary storage;
• Do not over-pack drums with poor integrity, or transfer their contents immediately as they are identified; and,
• Minimize direct drum handling to the extent practical, by use of the grappler, remote drum opening equipment and other means.

Drum handling operations should be carefully planned to implement safe procedures and other measures that consider promotion of health and safety, protection of the environment, and the technical limitations and applications of various equipment types.


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