Chemical Enter Waste Oil Treatment

Safety Lesson Learned: Chemical Enter Waste Oil Treatment
Location of Incident: Bataan Polyethylene, Luzon

Brief Account of Incident
59 full drums of waste materials believed to contain waste oil and 26 empty waste oil drums were removed from site and transported to Globecare. The drum contents were inspected at the Globecare treatment facility prior to transferring the waste oil to the stock tank. 19 drums were suspected to contain waste chemicals and not waste oil. Globecare segregated the 19 drums and immediately informed BPC of the incident. BPC completed a site visit to Globecare to assess the incident and formulate solutions and actions jointly with the treatment company. The drums were returned to BPC for containment and investigation. Further tests confirmed that the content of the 19 drums was PVC binder/resin.

Critical Factors
1. Failure to identify and segregate drum waste
2. Failure to positively identify contents of each drum prior to dispatch
3. Inadequate implementation of new waste management procedure

Corrective Actions
1. When implementing new procedures ensure that all employees involved in the task receive training and that their understanding is formally assessed.
2. Positive identification of drums and contents:
3. Durable and weatherproof identification label must be affixed to individual drums
4. Positive identification of waste contents verified against drum label prior to dispatch from site must be done
5. Waste storage area to be purposely designed and suitable for site waste (type & volume).
6. To remove waste from site in a timely manner to prevent unmanageable build up.