Hazardous Material Reporting Requirements – FAQ What are considered as hazardous materials? Hazardous materials are defined as those materials that pose a unreasonable risk to the health and safety of operating or emergency personnel, the public and the environment if not properly controlled. Why am I required to report hazardous materials to the fire department? Hazardous materials storage, dispensing, use and handling are regulated by the 2003 International Fire Code. It is critical to the public safety and firefighter safety that we know what and where hazardous materials are located in a business that is involved in a fire or other emergency. Who decided on this particular software and why? In 2001, the City of Chandler gathered together all of the interested businesses in their city to come up with a standard and relatively easy method of reporting the their hazardous materials to the fire department. This group evaluated all of the products on the market and settled on the software from Environmental Compliance Solutions because of its ease of use, it met both the business owner and the fire department’s needs, and it was inexpensive. Since that time more cities have adopted the Chandler model because if a business has locations in multiple cities we did not want them to have to spend more money to purchase many different programs and also to keep the reporting method standard. The City of Peoria began requiring this as of 2003. Can I create my own electronic report using my own software? The code does allow you that option however, it has to import directly into our master database without any modifications from us. It would be easier and faster for you to use the proprietary software. Why am I required to report my hazardous materials electronically using a specific software? Every product manufacturer is required by OSHA to provide a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) to their customers for each item that contains a hazardous material. There is not a set format or standard on how this MSDS is to be laid out. Some businesses will have one or two MSDS’s and some will have hundreds. Scenario 1 Imagine yourself as the firefighter at 3:00 in the morning responding to a business that is on fire. The building owner is not around and no one knows for sure what is burning. The firefighter does what he/she is trained to do and that is protecting the property and extinguishes the fire. They spray water on the fire and suddenly there is an explosion. Two fire fighters are serious injured or killed in the blast. Why, because they were not aware that the business owner had a compressed gas cylinder inside the room that was involved in the fire. Scenario 2 It is in the middle of a hot summer work day when the fire department is called because several people in your building suddenly become violently ill. The building is evacuated and the manager meets the fire crews at the street with a stack of MSDS’s. She says,” I think we have a chemical leak but I don’t know what it is.” The manager hand literally hundreds of MSDSs to the fire fighters and collapses. Now the firefighters have to read each MSDS to determine what is stored inside the building, match up those chemicals whose side effects match to signs and symptoms that the patients are experiencing to make an educated guess on how best to treat the patients outside the building. Additionally they must determine to most appropriate protective equipment that the firefighters need to wear to enter the building to search for other victims and to stabilize the situation. This all takes time, precious time that could frankly mean life or death to the victims, bystanders, neighbors, and the firefighters on the scene. The electronic hazardous materials reporting system being used by Peoria, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and others, provides the hazardous materials information to every responding fire crew in a standardized format that will allow the firefighters to make critical decisions based upon solid facts rather that guessing. This information is sent to every emergency fire vehicle responding to the call regardless of what city they are coming from. How do I purchase the software? Contact Rick Prince of Environmental Compliance Solutions at 480-628-6582 or go online at www.encompsol.com. How much does it cost? The investment fees are set by Environmental Compliance Solutions but are monitored by the fire service. They are based upon what you are using and how much is stored on site. Below is a list of the fees as of 8/25/05: * The basic Hazardous Material Inventory Statement Internet version that most businesses will need is $175.00 plus $30.00 annual renewal. * The larger Hazardous Material Management Plan version is $1995.00 plus $500 annual renewal. This is only for major hazardous material sites. * ECS will do all of the data entry for you on a case by case basis at an additional charge. What if I don’t comply? We don’t like to look at the negative however so customers want to know the penalties. Failure to report these hazardous materials is violation of the fire code and is a class one misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than Two Thousand, Five Hundred ($2,500.00) dollars or by imprisonment, not to exceed six (6) months or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day that a violation continues unabated shall be a separate offense punishable as described above.