Justrite Safety Group Director of Industrial Safety and Compliance Andy Brousseau is the guest of The Workplace Safety podcast, streaming this week.

Hosted by Lancaster Safety Consulting, a nationwide OSHA consulting firm that focuses on workplace safety, the podcast focuses on "common health and safety issues found in workplaces across the nation" and gives listeners "an inside look at what it takes to be, and stay, compliant with OSHA’s ever-changing regulations."

For almost 45 minutes, Andy spoke with host Stephen "Sarge" Thomas about "Flammable Liquids — Storage, Transfer, Use, and Disposal," the first in a five-part series on what organizations and employers need to know about hazardous materials in the workplace. Andy and Stephen both take a deep dive into the essential rules that any organization needs to know when it comes to storing, transferring, or disposing of flammable liquids.

"Except in rare cases like a natural disaster, every fire is preventable," Andy said. "We use many different chemicals in the workplace. We need those to produce our products or do our jobs. But many times these chemicals can be hazardous to health and safety if we don’t take the proper precaution in handling them."

They also discussed special tools all organizations need to stay safe when handling potentially dangerous materials. Essential to that conversation was a survey of the safety cans, safety cabinets, spill containment devices, plastic drums, and other top quality products for hazardous materials from Eagle Manufacturing.

"If you could for 10 minutes go through the eyes of a first responder – you’d see why they have jobs – and it’s often because of people’s complacency – we’ve always done it this way, nothing bad ever happened. Accidents happen. Complacency is the number one thing I wish we could change," said Andy.

"The safe handling and storage of these flammable fluids take approved equipment and practices," he added. "The difference between proper storage and handling and improper storage and handling means eliminating additional sources like hot surfaces or sparks."

Andy, a professional firefighter and medic for 22 years, spoke from a deep reservoir of knowledge and experience. Before working at Justrite, he oversaw safety, security, and environmental operations for a global logistics company that had him working on all five continents. "I've always been involved in helping people," he said. "Being a member of a hazmat team provided with an incredible training opportunity and real-life experience in mitigating incidents."

The five-part series runs once per month through December.

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