Hazardous Material Responder Team

I was a member of a hazardous material responder team, which was responsible for responding to spills of hazardous or unknown materials. This necessitated determining whether the material was hazardous, and if it was, then we were tasked with cleanup and disposal of the material in a way that was safe and in accordance to proper procedure. Procedures were driven by the organization, but had to either meet or exceed state regulations for hazardous material cleanup and disposal. This included very well-defined, strict rules and plans for collecting and disposing of hazardous material. Through social identification, individuals identify characteristics of a group as similar themselves and as enhancing their status or power (Latham, 2012). I found this to be true in my experience, and identified more readily to characteristics of the group that that were similar to myself, such as conscientiousness and attention to detail.

In this way, the group also meaningfully distinguished the responder team from any other employee, as mentioned by Latham (2012), and also that this is more likely to happen in smaller groups. Only hazardous responders could even go near a spill until the identity of the substance was made known, and then only responders had the training to properly clean up the spill. Compared to the rest of the organization, the responder team was relatively small, which also fits with proposed team concepts. Additionally, identifying with the team helped to motivate me to be safe and cautious when dealing with known or unknown substances. I also think it helped all team members to be collaborative in their efforts and share responsibilities equally among the