Understanding the Importance of a Decontamination Plan and Process

The very process of decontamination is always directed towards the confinement of the contaminant, within the Warm Zone. Removing contaminants from equipment and personnel is vital, with regards to lessening the potential of transferring those contaminants outside the hazardous area. However, proper and efficient decontamination is especially vital in those cases where either injured personnel or victims must be transported to medical facilities.

The Hazwoper regulation, requires organization employers, to communicate, develop and implement decontamination procedures before any employee, worker or equipment, enters any area, where the potential for exposure to hazardous substances exists. Hence, Hazwoper safety training is an absolute must, for it helps employers by protecting one of their biggest assets and it help the employees, for it helps them lead safe and healthy lifestyles.

The contamination process can either take place directly or indirectly. Some of the direct ways are through poor site management practices, use of incompatible protective clothing, failure to identify potential safety problems and failure to decontaminate. Where as, some of the indirect ways of contamination are through a contaminated victim who comes into physical contact with a clean person, a bystander or site worker comes into contact with a contaminated object within the hazard area or a decontaminated responder comes into contact with a contaminated person or object. Here too, the Hazwoper safety training courses provide an in depth view of the various contamination processes.

A decontamination plan, in accordance to OSHA, must be developed and used appropriately, during training sessions and live responses. An efficient decontamination plan, must include the following elements:

• Location of the decontamination area;

• The most appropriate decontamination methods based on the hazards that are present;

• The number of decontamination stations that will be needed;

• The layout of the decontamination area;

• Methods to minimize responder contact, with contaminants during removal of personal protective equipment and clothing;

• Methods to cross-contamination and control runoff in the decontamination area;

• The equipment and materials that will be necessary;

• The number of personnel required, in order to support the decontamination operation;

• Proper personal protective equipment(PPE) for decontamination team members;

• Proper disposal methods for equipment and clothing.

Furthermore, a decontamination process should consist of a series of procedures, that must be performed in a logical sequence. For example, outer, more heavily contaminated items should be decontaminated and removed first, followed by the decontamination and removal of inner, less contaminated items. Each and every procedure, must be performed at a separate station in order to prevent cross or indirect contamination. The Hazwoper safety training courses, however, provides an in depth view, of a successful decontamination plan and process.