1. How should the firm go about identifying hazardous conditions that should be rectified? Use checklists such as those in Figures 16-5 and 16-8 to list at least 10 possible dry-cleaning store hazardous conditions. Employees safety and health are very important matters in the laundry and cleaning business. Each facility is a small production plant in which machines, powered by highpressure steam and compressed air,work at high temperatures washing, cleaning, and pressing garments, often under very hot, slippery conditions. Chemical vapors are produced continually, and caustic chemicals are used in the cleaning process. High-temperature stills are almost continually cooking down cleaning solvents in order to remove impurities so that the solvents can be reused. If a mistake is made in this process like injecting too much steam into the still a boilover occurs, in which boiling chemical solvent erupts out of the still and over the floor, and on anyone who happens to be standing in its way.

As a result of these hazards and the fact that chemically hazardous waste is continually produced in these stores, several government agencies (including OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency) have instituted strict guidelines regarding the management of these plants. For example, posters have to be placed in each store notifying employees of their right to be told what hazardous chemicals they are dealing with and what the proper method for handling each chemical is. Special waste-management firms must be used to pick up and properly dispose of the hazardous waste.