Case Study on Industrial Hazmat Response Teams, Article Critique Example

As the supervisor of Environmental, Health, and Safety for Amway, Shelly Stephens describes the project via a case study that Amway adopted in order to create an industrial hazardous materials team or Hazmat that could “respond quickly and efficiently to potential chemical spills” at Amway’s numerous U.S. factories. The main goal of this project was to continuously protect Amway “employees, the environment, and the local community” while also reducing downtime (Stephens, 2009, p. 22). Obviously, these efforts by Amway to protect its employees as well as the natural environment during a hazardous materials incident paid off well, for in 2001, Amway’s Hazmat team became an official part of the company. Thus, as Stephens notes, this case study “represents Amway’s Hazmat team’s journey through the evaluation process and the subsequent reorganization” of Amway in 2000 (2009, p. 22).

This evaluation process began with an important question–“What is an emergency?”–which according to OSHA is defined as an “occurrence which results, or is likely to result, in an uncontrolled release of a hazardous substance,” such as at one of Amway’s’ numerous manufacturing sites in the U.S. that makes large and small volume liquids and powder materials for Amway’s many household products (Stephens, 2009, p. 23), some of which are considered as hazardous to both humans and the environment. The next step in this process was to determine how Amway’s Hazmat team should respond to an emergency.

Stephens advises that all responses to a hazardous materials incident should be based on what she calls a business impact analysis or how a specific incident might affect employees and their workplace. This analysis should include the severity of the incident or materials spill, “response time requirements, level of response required, costs, protection of employees, property conservation and reputational impact (2009, p. 24). Stephens certainly realizes that the most vital aspect of any hazardous materials incident is to protect all of the employees, as well as the immediate environment related to the community at large. Stephens calls Amway’s employees its “greatest asset,” due to the fact that a company cannot function effectively if its employees are considered by management as a second priority with the interest of the business being first priority (2009, p. 26).

The final step in this evaluation process is to determine the level of industrial Hazmat response at either the operational level or technician level. Stephens apparently prefers the technician level which incorporates “recognizing and evaluating a hazardous materials incident;” protecting the lives of the responders and company employees; a deep understanding on how to use required equipment like respirators and how implement “basic control and containment measures;” and the use of effective decision-making skills in order to “protect the public and the environment” (Hazmat Technician Training, 2012).

Interestingly, Amway’s current Hazmat team is composed entirely of company volunteers, rather than a high-priced outside Hazmat team organization, and works around the clock in various shifts. As a result, Amway’s Hazmat team, made up of well-trained volunteer employees, is highly respected in the communities in which they often respond to a hazardous materials incident. And thanks to Stephen’s involvement in creating the first Amway Hazmat team in 2000, each team is now “lean and well-functioning” and is always ready to respond in order to save valuable company property as well as Amway’s “greatest asset,” being its employees (Stephens, 2009, pp. 30-31).

References

Hazmat technician training. (2012). Hazmat Solutions. Retrieved from http://www.hazmatsolutions.net/HazMatTraining/HazMatTechnicianLevel.htm

Stephens, S. (2009). Case study on industrial hazmat response teams. Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning (4)1, 22-32.