3-15/010.00 Handling of Hazardous Materials - Unit/Employee Responsibilities

The purpose of this order is to establish guidelines for the distribution and utilization of cleaning supplies within all Custody facilities.  

Department members may be exposed to substances during their normal workday that may be considered hazardous, according to CAL-OSHA regulations. In order to use these substances within safety regulations, and train employees in the use of such, all Custody facilities shall maintain a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each hazardous substance used, as required by the Department Manual of Policy and Procedures, section 3-02/050.25, "Hazardous Substances Information." The MSDS includes information regarding the physical and chemical characteristics of the material, emergency response instructions, and the hazards specific to that substance.  

Unit Responsibilities  

All Custody facilities will have their Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) housed in a location easily accessible to personnel.  

All Custody facilities will conduct recurrent briefings regarding the hazards of mixing chemical agents. The briefings will cover the MSDS and the location of the MSDS. Personnel will be briefed that the MSDS contains a chemical product inventory of all chemicals in use at the facility. Further, the data sheets cover fire and explosion data, health hazard data, spill and leak procedures, special protection information, and special precautions for each chemical. Instructions in the data book for spill and leak procedures will be followed.  

Officer Responsibilities  

It is the responsibility of all personnel who supervise inmate workers using hazardous substances to read and be familiar with the MSDS for each product used at their work assignment.  

Chemicals react to compounds with the generation or consumption of energy. The dangers inherent with the mixing of incompatible chemicals occur when the products or by-products of the reaction are toxic or hazardous, or when the energy generated is great enough to be destructive. Some of the possible hazardous outcomes that may accompany a chemical reaction are:[REDACTED TEXT]

References:

Manual of Policy and Procedures:

Custody Division Manual:

Emergency Operations Bureau: