safety guidance
signage on decontamination unit doors
contaminated facility, acknowledged by the requirement for it to be air tested prior to removal from a site where it has been used in the decontamination process. Despite engineering controls (e.g. air flow
A
and filtration) and strict decontamination procedures, there may be a residual risk such that employees and others need to be warned, and informed, of any further measures necessary. Safety signs are needed if they will help to reduce this residual risk.
A DCU has 4 doors, often described as: 1. external clean end door 2. clean end to shower door 3. shower to dirty end door 4. external dirty end door
It has long been established that the outside
of the external clean end door will clearly display the word “CLEAN” or the phrase “CLEAN END”. Similarly, the outside of the external dirty
end door will clearly display the word “DIRTY” or the phrase “DIRTY END”. Access to the DCU should be restricted to
authorised persons only, normally competent employees of the asbestos removal company, and sometimes subcontractors working under
However, some signs are less appropriate
than that shown above, for example, some DCU’s are supplied with signage which, according to the HSE guidance on the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals)
Decontamination Unit (DCU) used for asbestos removal works is a potentially
their direction (e.g. analyst, licensed scaffolder). All sections of the DCU should have restricted access, including the clean end, which although should never become contaminated with asbestos, does contain non-asbestos hazards and risks (e.g. live electricity, access to gas boiler, etc) as well as being a storage area for personal belongings, RPE etc. Consequently, the outside of both the external clean end door and the external dirty end door should display signage to prohibit access to unauthorised persons. Te most appropriate sign for this purpose detailed in the HSE guidance on the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 is as follows:
Regulations 1996, means “No access to pedestrians”. Tis is clearly less correct than the “No access to unauthorised persons” signage described previously. In addition, the HSE’s Licensed Contractors’ Guide is inconsistent and confusing in its illustrations of DCU signage, which includes the “no access to pedestrians” signage as well as several omissions. Under normal operating conditions, specific
personal protective equipment (PPE) should be worn when entering either the shower compartment or the dirty end of the DCU. Tis would consist of safety overalls and respiratory protective equipment. Accordingly, warning signs should be displayed on all doors providing direct access to these areas, namely the clean to shower door (clean side) and the external dirty end door (outside). Te following mandatory signs should be displayed on these doors:
14
ARCA & ATAC NEWS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48