mem@sii.UUCP (Mark Mallett) (10/14/83)
b A new NH state law requires that employers provide their workers with a list of toxic substances that they might encounter where they work. Reasonable? There is a list of over 3000 of these substances that the employer has to check out. And of course there are various forms to fill out for each of these things; such as the official notice to post, containing the name of the toxin, symptoms, procedures; the data sheet to the state; the report to the local fire department. A friend's father owns a business which makes PC boards. In the course of this business he has to dispose of the spent acid used in cutting the masks onto the boards. In 1974 he disposed of some empty jugs through a waste disposal contractor. Turns out that this contractor is now being investigated for illegal dumping. This businessman is not responsible for the .00000001% he may have (may) contributed; he is responsible for an equal share by customer. Not that he should be held responsible at all!. In addition; it is this person's responsibility NOW to ensure that the contractor he hires to dispose of his waste chemicals actually does his job correctly. What's the point of hiring the contractor? Recently, the EPA came and disected his trash bin, found some empty glass containers which had contained this acid. Now this guy neutralizes all the containers before throwing them away; but now he is going to be required to grind all the containers up and get rid of them as granular material. Not to mention that (according to this guy) the stuff that he disposes of in fairly small quantities is used in common household cleansers, and is (again according to him) used in far greater quantities in this way than he uses (plus the fact that he is require to neutralize his chemicals). I thought it was interesting. Mark Mallett decvax!sii!mem