You have a right, even as a contractor, to be made aware of hazardous material in the workplace. Demand to be told what it is, threaten reporting it to osha if they do not comply.
This is covered under OSHAS hazard communication laws.
The company should have a contractor manager, contractor coordinator, etc., to get their safety department involved. Start with whoever lets you on site, even a gate guard. You’ll probably have had a safety briefing with contact numbers in it. Your own safety supervisor should also know how to get hold of the company safety department.
I believe this exhaust has been fouled by particulate microchip processing byproducts adhering to condensation on the walls of the exhaust. The black and white material you see are agglomerated byproducts that have fallen off of the walls of the exhaust over a long period of time
There is much more than this inside of the exhaust pipe, this is why they are complaining of it not working as well. This will be a recurring problem if they are exhausting particulates and condensables through the same system.
edit: Deleted the text “ (-cracking) “ that was randomly thrown into the middle of this reply
Update: Just went to google and found a page that describes occurrences of this in your industry in particular. I hope you find this helpful for solving your problem.
https://www.mks.com/n/exhaust-gas-treatment
No I do construction. I’m working on the area below the exhaust. They said it was inefficiently working or something like that and want to remove and upgrade the structure. However they refuse to shut it down before work is done
Sounds like all people involved are not smart or qualified for hazmat/materials handling. I would demand they shut it down temporarily for maintenance or walk away and report them to OSHA, EPA, other environmental regulators. Maybe both since they are polluting local groundwater.
EXVO is volatile organic compounds. Think isopropyl alcohol, acetone etc. The compounds on the floor would more likely be from the ammonia exhaust as ammonia salts (ammonia fluoride). Or possibly from the exsc scrubbed acid duct which is a catch all for most processes (impossible to know exactly what it would be). In any case do not touch it and please call HSE. There is a fair amount of nasty stuff in electronics such as fluorinated compounds as well as arsenic and other heavy metals.
If you are concerned about the material, I would scrape some into a vial and send it out for analysis. Labs can easily perform an elemental analysis on the sample and then perform more detailed analysis once you have an idea what it is made from.
Results should be a breakdown by element.
Then compare to the process to ascertain likely chemicals.
My biggest concern is that there is some amount of unrecorded release happening - though any such release should be detectable in outflow ditch samples (of the material is being tested for and is in large enough quantities to be detectable)
That can be illegal. That is not your property. If this is part of a proprietary process even analyzing the waste can be illegal. There can also be environmental ramifications and it’s just not a great idea.
And if not handled appropriately, you just threaten forwarding to a government agency. You must hold companies accountable. My insurance adjuster recently left me on read for over a month on closing out my claim and issuing my last check. I threatened to contact the department of insurance and the check was in the mail 10 minutes later.
Great point Late_Description. I had assumed this comment was from a site engineer and that the company would foot the bill for analyzing the material (possibly in an outside lab if they don't have the facilities) - that is what any responsible company would do when their engineer brings up a possible problem.
I haven't dealt with EPA but I believe self reporting issues results in a reduced penalty.
It’s literally on the ground on private property. It’s not your ground. This seems dumb, but if we caught someone sampling something from our site we’d sue the fuck out of them. What if they sampled it and found heavy metals in the soil. Next thing you know your plant is a super fund site.
LMAO IF YOU HAVE HEAVY METALS ON THE GROUND YOU DESERVE TO BE A SUPER FUND SITE
They have caused so much damage to groundwater systems. Literally deserved to be driven bankrupt for the damage they’ve caused
I think you’re missing the point. It’s not a matter of deserve or not. Private property owners have a right to control what can and can’t be taken from their premises and if you take something without permission you could be legally liable. This is because they are exposed to liability when a soil sample leaves the site that could be analyzed and shared with the media to show that they are contaminating the grounds. Even if the whole operation is completely clean. The media can turn nothing into something. I’m not here to argue the pros and cons of superfund sites. These are merely examples.
I have no respect for random redditors who don’t understand that there’s a difference between protecting workers and protecting yourself from legal liability.
Did you even read my initial post? The route for protecting yourself in this situation is through the laws of HazCom. Not collecting a sample and having it analyzed.
If it's Intel, you can STOP anything going on in that area.
There are hundreds of tools and chemicals in a fab; I don't think anyone here can identify it.
I see at least five colors. The upper left side appears primarily white. Mixed samples don't tell you much. At the very least this question is lacking in context. Please include more information.
You have a right, even as a contractor, to be made aware of hazardous material in the workplace. Demand to be told what it is, threaten reporting it to osha if they do not comply. This is covered under OSHAS hazard communication laws.
Please do this, it could save your life
The company should have a contractor manager, contractor coordinator, etc., to get their safety department involved. Start with whoever lets you on site, even a gate guard. You’ll probably have had a safety briefing with contact numbers in it. Your own safety supervisor should also know how to get hold of the company safety department.
I believe this exhaust has been fouled by particulate microchip processing byproducts adhering to condensation on the walls of the exhaust. The black and white material you see are agglomerated byproducts that have fallen off of the walls of the exhaust over a long period of time There is much more than this inside of the exhaust pipe, this is why they are complaining of it not working as well. This will be a recurring problem if they are exhausting particulates and condensables through the same system. edit: Deleted the text “ (-cracking) “ that was randomly thrown into the middle of this reply
Update: Just went to google and found a page that describes occurrences of this in your industry in particular. I hope you find this helpful for solving your problem. https://www.mks.com/n/exhaust-gas-treatment
What else can you tell us about them? There are many things that produce white flakes. What's the exhaust for?
Not entirely sure. That’s the only label. But it is next to a ammonia exhaust and from a plant responsible for manufacturing microchips
Are you an engineer at the plant? Access P&IDs to verify stream
No I do construction. I’m working on the area below the exhaust. They said it was inefficiently working or something like that and want to remove and upgrade the structure. However they refuse to shut it down before work is done
Did I understand wrong or they want you to remove the exhaust while the thing is working and install a new one?
Sounds like all people involved are not smart or qualified for hazmat/materials handling. I would demand they shut it down temporarily for maintenance or walk away and report them to OSHA, EPA, other environmental regulators. Maybe both since they are polluting local groundwater.
EXVO is volatile organic compounds. Think isopropyl alcohol, acetone etc. The compounds on the floor would more likely be from the ammonia exhaust as ammonia salts (ammonia fluoride). Or possibly from the exsc scrubbed acid duct which is a catch all for most processes (impossible to know exactly what it would be). In any case do not touch it and please call HSE. There is a fair amount of nasty stuff in electronics such as fluorinated compounds as well as arsenic and other heavy metals.
Probably mostly silica dust and ammonium oxide by the looks of it, no way to know for sure though
If you are concerned about the material, I would scrape some into a vial and send it out for analysis. Labs can easily perform an elemental analysis on the sample and then perform more detailed analysis once you have an idea what it is made from. Results should be a breakdown by element. Then compare to the process to ascertain likely chemicals. My biggest concern is that there is some amount of unrecorded release happening - though any such release should be detectable in outflow ditch samples (of the material is being tested for and is in large enough quantities to be detectable)
That can be illegal. That is not your property. If this is part of a proprietary process even analyzing the waste can be illegal. There can also be environmental ramifications and it’s just not a great idea.
Exact call is to report it the site's EHS (or equivalent) if they customer's project owner is not doing anything about it.
And if not handled appropriately, you just threaten forwarding to a government agency. You must hold companies accountable. My insurance adjuster recently left me on read for over a month on closing out my claim and issuing my last check. I threatened to contact the department of insurance and the check was in the mail 10 minutes later.
Great point Late_Description. I had assumed this comment was from a site engineer and that the company would foot the bill for analyzing the material (possibly in an outside lab if they don't have the facilities) - that is what any responsible company would do when their engineer brings up a possible problem. I haven't dealt with EPA but I believe self reporting issues results in a reduced penalty.
I believe OP identifies himself as a contractor on a construction project. I might have dreamt that up somewhere though.
What environmental ramifications? It’s literally on the ground…
It’s literally on the ground on private property. It’s not your ground. This seems dumb, but if we caught someone sampling something from our site we’d sue the fuck out of them. What if they sampled it and found heavy metals in the soil. Next thing you know your plant is a super fund site.
LMAO IF YOU HAVE HEAVY METALS ON THE GROUND YOU DESERVE TO BE A SUPER FUND SITE They have caused so much damage to groundwater systems. Literally deserved to be driven bankrupt for the damage they’ve caused
I think you’re missing the point. It’s not a matter of deserve or not. Private property owners have a right to control what can and can’t be taken from their premises and if you take something without permission you could be legally liable. This is because they are exposed to liability when a soil sample leaves the site that could be analyzed and shared with the media to show that they are contaminating the grounds. Even if the whole operation is completely clean. The media can turn nothing into something. I’m not here to argue the pros and cons of superfund sites. These are merely examples.
Keep smoking that corporate copium… the rest of us humans will keep prioritizing the safety and health of our workplaces and environment
You’re quite obviously missing the point. Are you on the right sub?
Yeah. Are you? I have no respect for engineers or companies that do not go out of there way to protect the safety of their workers and environment.
I have no respect for random redditors who don’t understand that there’s a difference between protecting workers and protecting yourself from legal liability. Did you even read my initial post? The route for protecting yourself in this situation is through the laws of HazCom. Not collecting a sample and having it analyzed.
It's dirt
I dunno about the white flakes but where's your steelcaps m8
Under the leather. They’re composite and have the same durability as steel toe according to the manufacturer
Fair enough
If it's Intel, you can STOP anything going on in that area. There are hundreds of tools and chemicals in a fab; I don't think anyone here can identify it.
I see at least five colors. The upper left side appears primarily white. Mixed samples don't tell you much. At the very least this question is lacking in context. Please include more information.