Institutional and commercial facilities can present a range of potential safety hazards, from materials that include refrigerants to events such as slips and falls and equipment mishaps. But the potential risks do not stop there, as facility managers at U.S. Postal Service (USPS) facilities in two states found out recently.
A recent inspector general report has called on the USPS to tighten the controls over hazardous wastes at its vehicle maintenance facilities, after finding at least some issues at all facilities visited, and potentially serious issues at many, according to FEDWeek.
In visits to 19 sites mostly in Massachusetts and California, auditors found that all 19 had container labels that were missing, incomplete or illegible, 16 facilities did not keep all containers closed to protect against spills, and nine had containers with damage, leakage, bulging, rusting or other deterioration.
Issues included that: scheduled inspections were not always done; water from showers and eyewash equipment was low-flowing, dirty brown with the appearance of contamination or did not drain after activation; equipment was covered in dust, dirt and debris or blocked by doors or other items; and self-contained eyewash containers had expired as long as three years ago.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
