Hazmat Tanker PPE

I am looking for hazardous tanker drivers/unloaders that may be able to offer some suggestions related to high quality hazardous ppe clothing.

My company provides basic PPE protective gear. I am looking for high quality PPE gear that will last, protect properly, and easy to get into and out of.

Looking for:

Helmet with face shield and neck apron that is corrosive resistant.

Gloves that go up arm at least half way. Glove liners to add extra barrier and generate ease for chemical gloves to slide on.

Corrosive boots with strong grip pull handles. Need to know more about standard version and winter. (Winter boots that wont crack)

Water cooled clothing that can be worn under pickle suit.

Need advice on how to properly contain hazmat clothing after unload.

Thanks!

Hi there,

When you say basic PPE what do you mean exactly?

For those reading, PPE has specific products it can protect against while still be critically prone to failure against other's. Polyvinylchloride (PVC) will protect against certain bases but fails against d-limonene (orange oil). Viton is a beast against almost anything except ketones.

The important thing for top quality PPE is to understand what you are transporting or will expect to be exposed to. Then work backwards, identifying the proper material that defends correctly against it.

As far as water cooled clothing, you need to reach out to companies like DuPont or better yet, the chemical manufacturers and get the list of protective gear approved for the products you're hauling.

In my haz mat courses, we always did suit scrub downs after exposure, not sure how feasible that will be but if a rinse station is available that would be cool. PPE should never be stored in the driving quarters.

Try looking into DuPonts Tyvek suits, or the monster, Tychem series. https://www.dupont.com/personal-protection/chemical-hazmat-protection.html They have databases in there to match chemicals appropriately to the suit series so again you will have to know the products SDS ingredients.

Best of luck!

Reading your post makes me wonder what in the world you are hauling. I have the basic green suit. Anything I haul that I have to deal with it works fine. Anything really nasty the customer handles. They really don’t want us messing with that stuff. I think I have worn mine 4 times in 3 plus years.

Like PJ, I have the basic company-issued green chemical suit for protection against corrosives and the non-flammable hazmat chemicals, and Nomex (FR) coveralls for the flammable chemicals and whenever it's required to enter some facilities. My hardhat has an attached face shield, and we received side-shield safety glasses and goggles, as well as a respirator. It's all the basic PPE. If you want to go another step and purchase supplemental gear, I'd recommend Grainger, or just google 'hazmat PPE.' You'll find several outfits that will sell you pretty much anything you want. Some of the things you're looking for don't seem necessary, however. Chemical gloves slip on and off fine without any kind of liner or insert. I do wear a thin pair of cotton gloves under in the winter, just for added warmth. I have several pair of cold-weather chemical gloves that were given to me by customers, they have a thin fleece lining. The chemical boots don't have strong pull handles; they're just really big and slip on and off quite easily. The water cooled clothing? Keep yourself hydrated, and just make sure you have dry clothes to change into when you're done with the offload. Yes, you'll sweat through everything you're wearing, but I just change out of the chemical suit and into dry clothes before I get going. I'll bag up the suit and hang it up to dry overnight. Keep lots of water handy and you won't dehydrate. As far as storing your hazmat clothing, if you get any product on your chemical suit, you can spray it off with water. After it dries, bag it up. The only thing I really get on my chemical suit and nomex is dirt anyway. Often I'll wear the chemical jacket or nomex just for added warmth or to protect against rain. Right now all of my hazmat garments are folded into Walmart plastic bags and stowed away. Like PJ said, the really nasty stuff the customer won't let us touch anyway. In those instances we are told to just stay in the cab. No need to overthink it.

Thank You Spaceman Spiff, PJ, and PeteB. Great information you guys gave me.

I am in second year of handling chemical unloads, and what I thought was needed or important at the start of my tanker experiences has mellowed out to what do I really need, and as you guys stated, many customers handle the loads themselves.

At the start of this post, I was planning for What-If scenarios that haven't developed.

Thank You Spaceman Spiff, PJ, and PeteB. Great information you guys gave me.

I am in second year of handling chemical unloads, and what I thought was needed or important at the start of my tanker experiences has mellowed out to what do I really need, and as you guys stated, many customers handle the loads themselves.

At the start of this post, I was planning for What-If scenarios that haven't developed.

Interesting to see ya back around, W/D ! It's a good thing; glad you've found your niche!!!

I used to haul asphalt with my other half. (6122 & 3257 .. hot but not HZ.) Occasionally, HE would haul an offbeat HZ load which I couldn't be a part of .. and they provided him with the 'Zuit Suit' as needed, as you've probably found out, LoL !

It'd be great to hear more of your 'stuff' as things have evolved for ya; besides PPE and eyeglasses, haha! Just, IMHO . . .

Be safe!

~ Anne ~

WD that is good news. I don’t know who your with, but I’m sure ya’ll are pretty much the same as we are.

We have a few customers that are dedicated and get real involved with some nasty stuff and we do handle it. Those drivers are hand picked both for desire and ability. Then the customer supplies all the necessary PPE and training.

I have been asked and declined those accounts. I got a nice little gig going the past couple years. I haul paper additive out, and whatever back. Usually a customer unload. I make what I want too without alot of fuss.

Stay safe!!