Acrylonitrile Awareness Online

Overview

Who Should take this course?

This Acrylonitrile Awareness course provides a general awareness of the risks and the regulatory requirements for protecting employees who work with or around Acrylonitrile, as required by OSHA. Acrylonitrile, also called “vinyl cyanide,” is an organic compound, a colorless, explosive, and flammable liquid with a pungent, onion-like odor.

Approximately 1.5 billion pounds of acrylonitrile is manufactured each year in the U.S. by the reaction of propylene with ammonia and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst.

The major use of acrylonitrile is in the production of acrylic fibers are used in the manufacture of apparel, carpeting, blankets, draperies, and upholstery.

Other major uses include the manufacture of acrylonitrile resins used to manufacture a variety of plastic products, nitrile elastomers and latexes, and other chemicals, as well as rubber and the manufacture of carbon fibers used in aircraft and the defense and aerospace industries.

Acrylonitrile is very toxic and considered to be a probable human carcinogen by OSHA. Acute toxicity is similar to that due to cyanide poisoning; inhalation or ingestion can result in collapse and death due to lack of oxygen to tissues and heart failure. Acute exposure has been observed to cause mucous membrane irritation, irritation to the eyes and skin, headaches, dizziness, sneezing, nausea and vomiting, impaired judgment, difficulty breathing, limb weakness, cyanosis, convulsions, and collapse.

Objectives

The objective of this Acrylonitrile Awareness course is to provide a general awareness of the risks and the regulatory requirements for protecting employees who work with or around Acrylonitrile, as required by OSHA. The course will also introduce students to the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations for Acrylonitrile, Subpart Z, Toxic and Hazardous Substances - 29 CFR 1910.1045.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Explain what acrylonitrile is;
• Identify where workers may encounter acrylonitrile;
• Describe hazards and health effects of acrylonitrile exposure;
• Demonstrate an understanding of OSHA’s Acrylonitrile Standard;
• Identify and describe OSHA methods of compliance to prevent acrylonitrile exposure; and
• Explain medical surveillance and hazard communication requirements.

Exams

This course has one final exam based upon the material in the 3 course sections.

The exam consists of 10 questions selected at random from a larger pool of questions. A score of 70% or better is required to pass each exam. Students who do not pass the exam the first time may retake it as many times as necessary in order to pass.

Training Requirements

The employer must train each employee:

• Exposed to Acrylonitrile above the action level;
• Whose exposures are maintained below the action level by engineering and work practice controls: and
• Who is subject to potential skin or eye contact with liquid Acrylonitrile.
• The employer must institute a training program and ensure employee participation in the program, which must be in accord with the requirements of the Standard.
• Training must be provided at the time of initial assignment or upon institution of the training program, and at least annually thereafter.

Mobile version

This course is available in HTML5, so it works in the browser on your smartphone or tablet. It only needs the most recent version of your device's web browser.

Tablets work much better than smartphones, simply due to their screen size. The newer the device, the better the result. The course will not work on the first generation iPad, nor older Android tablets.

Frequently asked questions