As the stay-at-home mandates are lifted, corporate America is evaluating how to maintain safety measures within their current office space. From rearranging furniture to implementing one-way traffic flow patterns, and providing additional cleaning supplies, tenants and landlords are looking at office spaces and office cultures like never before. But are corporate offices equipped with the right infrastructure to support these changes? More specifically, do our office spaces and buildings have the means to store hazardous materials in abundance? Alcohol Based Hand Sanitizers are often a Class III flammable liquid and their use and storage are regulated by the Massachusetts building code.
Local building and fire codes regulate the maximum quantity of hazardous materials allowed in a building. We’ve taken a closer look at the code implications of increasing hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies in office spaces and recommend developing a Hazardous Materials Management Plan (HMMP) (or update the existing plan) to incorporate any additional hand sanitizer and ensure compliance with these provisions. These plans are also critical to the local fire department and other emergency response teams as the plans will provide the necessary information for fire-fighting and emergency response operations. A chemical inventory including type and quantity of hazardous materials should be maintained by each tenant. We recommend landlords revisit lease agreements and consider adding language to address storage of hazardous materials and to define allowed quantities for each tenant space. Communication between tenants and landlords is critical to maintain compliance and life safety requirements for the building occupants.
Click the image below for the whitepaper by Caitlyn Angelini, P.E. of AKF and Jason Costello, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP of Margulies Perruzzi that breaks down requirements per the Massachusetts State Building Code, 9th edition 780 CMR (based on the 2015 International Building Code).
Jason B. Costello AIA, EDAC, is a Partner | Associate Principal and leads the Healthcare design practice at Margulies Perruzzi.
More information and articles published from the MP Healthcare studio posted regularly.
MP recently published “VOLUME 1: COVID-19 AND THE FUTURE OF THE WORKPLACE
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?” Download by clicking here.