Wood preservation chemicals are designed to be toxic to wood destroying organisms. This toxicity, however, may not be limited to target organisms but the use of these chemicals can potentially harm various biota and humans as well. This fact dictates that adequate precautionary measures be employed to prevent any harmful effects to humans and the environment. The extensive experience with wood treatment chemicals has led to the preparation of a "Generic Code of Good Practices for Wood Protection Facilities" (IRG/WP 93-50003). Other international activity exists to develop guidelines for the proper use of wood treatment chemicals, such as by the United Nations (Cleaner Production Guidelines - Wood Preservation, Draft 1, March 1994) and by individual countries, e.g. Germany. These activities show that the desire for proper use guidelines is wide spread. Recognizing the need for good practices, this IRG Document presents a general outline, of which elements might be included in a Code of Good Practices for Wood Preservation Facilities. It is based on existing Technical Recommendations Documents developed and implemented in Canada, which is one of the world's largest manufacturer of preserved wood. This Document is a compendium of recommendations for the design and operating practices of wood preserving facilities. The suggested recommendations focus on achieving the objectives of protecting the environment and workers in wood preservation facilities from harmful exposure to wood preservation chemicals. The recommendations should be considered as generic. Country- and site-specific circumstances may require recommendations specifically adapted to the individual locale in order to best achieve the objectives. This Document addresses only facilities that apply pressure, thermal or double vacuum processes. Although such facilities produce the vast majority of treated wood products throughout the world, it is recognized that a variety of other preservation methods are being practised. To attempt to cover them all would be outside the scope of this Document. However, the Document provides a matrix containing the basic elements and format that should allow its adaptation to incorporate othher types of preservation facilities, chemicals and processes. The Document has been divided in five parts: A - Overview: describing general aspects of wood preservation; B - Design: outlining basic good plant designs; C - Operating Practices: covering safe operations and contingency planning for spills and fires; D - Specific requirements for individual preservatives; E - Regulatory requirements. Although this Document concentrates on the design and operation of wood preservation facilities, the regulatory requirements affecting the industry in many countries may go beyond these issues. It may therefore be beneficial for a Code to cover additional issues, important to the overall life cycle of preservative use, such as recommendations for plant site rehabilitation, the disposal of plant wastes and the disposition of obsolete, treated wood.

Download document (992 kb)
free for the members of IRG. Available if purchased.

Purchase this document