The Seven Major Hazards in Drain and Sewer Cleaning
Editor's note: This is the third and final part on drain and sewer cleaning safety. The text is from Chapter 1 of The Professional Handbook-Drain and Sewer Cleaners, Second Edition. It is reprinted with permission of Spartan Tool's International Institute of Sewer and Pipe Cleaning. The handbook was authored by Ernest L. Weber.
The third major hazard in drain and sewer cleaning concerns exposure to CHEMICAL DRAIN OPENERS. I tell every one of my students to be prepared to deal with chemical drain openers on every service call. Assume the customer has already used them. This way you will help avoid the risk of injury from chemical drain openers. For many years, there were two types of chemical drain openers available in the marketplace-acids and caustics. Both are extremely dangerous. 1 am happy to report that, recently, less dangerous products are becoming available to the consumer. The new drain cleaners are enzymatic. These drain cleaners work with biological and digestive type reactions. They are much safer to use than acids and caustics. For safety's sake I hope that someday the enzymes are the primary chemicals used for drain and sewer cleaning.