IHMM Remotely Proctored Exams Available Now
IHMM is pleased to announce that the American National Standards Institute [ANSI] has approved Kryterion Remotely Proctored Exams for IHMM’s CHMM, CHMP, and CDGP exams. IHMM has been using the Kryterion Remotely Proctored Exams for the CSHM and CSMP exams since April of this year.
About 60% of Kryterion in-person testing centers have reopened. If you prefer the comfort and convenience of taking your exam from your home or office instead of at a Kryterion center, IHMM is ready to enroll you in a remotely proctored examination.
Please contact either Kortney Tunstall at [email protected] for the CHMM, CHMP, or CDGP exams or Kaylene Cagle at [email protected] for the CSHM or CSMP exams.
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
IHMM Today is an online publication of the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (IHMM)
are compiled from independent sources and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of IHMM.
IHMM Credential Recognition
Below you will see the credential badges that are now in each CHMM, CHMP, CDGT, CDGP, Student CHMM, CSHM, CSMP, and ASHM certificant’s MYIHMM account. Every IHMM certificant may use these badges, linked as those below are to their IHMM credential page, for their email signatures, business cards, and other social media applications. You’re justifiably proud of the accomplishment of having earned your credential and you can show the rest of the world. Simply right-click on the badge of choice, then save as to your computer, and then load it to wherever you want to use it, and please link that back to https://ihmm.org/.
IHMM Certificant Recognition
IHMM has completed inserting new credential badges in every certificant’s MYIHMM account. Everyone may access those badges for use in their email signatures, LinkedIn accounts, and other social media and communications media. With a link from your credential badge to the IHMM website [see above] you can not only stand out as an IHMM-certified professional, you can also promote IHMM credentials to others. Right-click on the badge of choice, save as to your computer, then load it to whatever medium you choose.
Throughout our certificant’s MYIHMM accounts are also now placed 10 Year, 20 Year, and 30 Year badges signifying their longevity as an IHMM certified professional.
IHMM has also added Distinguished Diplomates and Fellows of the Institute badges to the appropriate people in the MYIHMM database. These two badges will be accompanied by new lapel pins to be sent to each of those distinguished by holding these designations.
Need Help? On the IHMM website just click on the “NEED HELP?” button
and let us know what you need and the right person will get right back with you.
PFAS Reporting Rules — What Every Company Needs to Know
WEBINAR
Thursday, September 9, 2021
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT)
Register Now
PODCAST
Available Now
Listen Here
Transcript Available Here
When it comes to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not messing around. The agency announced on June 10, 2021, three actions intended to protect communities from PFAS:
- proposing a rule designed to obtain comprehensive data on more than 1,000 PFAS manufactured in the United States;
- withdrawing guidance that EPA believes weakened its July 2020 significant new use rule (SNUR) restricting certain long-chain PFAS; and
- publishing a final rule that incorporates three additional PFAS into the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) maintained under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
More information about these rules is available in our June 11, 2021, memorandum “EPA Announces Three PFAS Actions, Including Proposed TSCA Section 8(a) Reporting Rule.” Comments on these proposed rules are due on or before September 27, 2021.
The proposed rule intended to obtain comprehensive data on PFAS would require all manufacturers (including importers) of PFAS in any year since 2011 to report information related to chemical identity, categories of use, volumes manufactured and processed, byproducts, environmental and health effects, worker exposure, and disposal. As a result of these EPA regulatory actions, companies that never expected to need to know TSCA are now finding themselves in EPA’s crosshairs.
In light of this, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce a complimentary webinar focused on these issues on September 9, 2021, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT). B&C Managing Partner Lynn L. Bergeson and Director of Chemistry Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., will discuss EPA’s proposed rules and what the regulated community must know and do to comply.
REGISTER HERE
HMS Offers 2 PHMSA HMIT Grant DOT Hazmat Courses at the IHMM Offices – Rockville, MD
The Hazardous Materials Society [HMS] has been promoting these 2 DOT Hazmat programs since early July to those in the Virginia, Maryland, and DC area as all of these programs will be conducted in-person at the IHMM offices in Rockville.
All of these programs are FREE of charge. Click on each of the links provided below for more information about the registration, prerequisite, and CMP requirements associated with each program.
| Sept 14-16, 2021 | PHMSA HMIT Grant DOT Hazmat Advanced Awareness Training | HMS | Rockville, MD |
| Sept 21-23, 2021 | PHMSA HMIT Grant DOT Hazmat Basic Awareness Training | HMS | Rockville, MD |
Confused? Then Ask Us at the IHMM Town Hall
We will be hosting two “Ask Me Anything” videoconference calls on Thursday, August 26, 2021. Our first call will be held from 12:00 pm EDT until 1:00 pm EDT. The second call will be held from 3:00 pm PDT until 4:00 pm PDT. If you have any questions about anything, please call in and ask. You can also post a question in the HMS-IHMM General Information Community on Collaboration.
If you have any questions concerning:
What is 45 in 5 and How does IHMM Promote Credentials?
What is the 702 Program and How Will it Work?
What is Collaboration and How to Use it?
Earning recertification points
Mentoring
Where to take an exam?
Your MyIHMM account and Updating Your Data
What is HMS and How to Use HMS?
Or anything else regarding IHMM please join us.
Dial-in number (US): (425) 436-6280
Access code: 778407#
International dial-in numbers: https://fccdl.in/i/jnguyen14
Online meeting ID: jnguyen14
Join the online meeting: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/jnguyen14
U.S. Department of Labor issues Updated Guidance on Protecting Unvaccinated and Other at-risk Workers from the Coronavirus
EPA – Regulatory Options for Addressing the Temporary Backlog of Containerized Hazardous Waste Needing Incineration
PHMSA – Hazardous Materials: Harmonization With International Standards
[NPPTL] Respiratory Protection Week is Coming Soon!
Barrier Face Coverings and NIOSH Performance/Performance Plus Masks
PHMSA NPRM HM-215P –Harmonization with International Standards
OSHA – Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace (August 13, 2021)
US Labor investigation finds Northeast supermarket chain miscalculated overtime, leading to more than $165K owed in back wages
Cleanup settlement reached on Arkansas hazardous waste site
Toxic metals are seeping into our bones, and modern tech may be making it worse
Marine Bacteria in Canadian Arctic Capable of Biodegrading Diesel and Oil
Engineers Clean Up Water Pollution With Sunlight
Significant New Use Rules on Certain Chemical Substances (20-8.B)
Notification of Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Section 1441 Application Submissions
EPA Urges Communities in Tropical Storm Fred’s Path to Avoid Indoor Air Dangers, Use Generators Safely
National Safety Council
IHMM is a member of the National Safety Council and is pleased to bring this important information to all of its certificants.
Safety incentive programs
Trends in personal protective equipment 2021
“Very clear ownership of EHS”
Using artificial intelligence to identify serious injury and fatality potential
See the best in others – and yourself
Steps to boost truck cab safety
Find and fix workplace hazards
Temporary power safety
FACE Report: Worker falls from boom lift during tree trimming
Gas detection in confined spaces
Fall restraint vs. fall arrest
Understanding and eliminating arc flash
NSC Webinars
IHMM is a member of ASSP and is pleased to provide this information to all of our certificants.
ASSP News
5 Tips You Need to Pass Your Safety Certification Exam
Quiz: Which Strength Do You Bring to a Crisis?
3 Keys to Improving Risk Management
Safety News You Need: Reporting and Communication
5 Safety Culture Mistakes You Should Avoid at All Costs
ASSP has approval on ISO 45001 as an American National Standard.
As you know, we have had a lot of inquiries on this standard from a wide variety of stakeholders. As a result, we are going to copy in all standards participants, so they are aware of the approval of this significant NAIS, [Nationally Adopted International Standard].
ANSI/ASSP/ISO 45003-2021 Occupational health and safety management Psychological health and safety at work: managing psychosocial risks Guidelines (identical national adoption of ISO 45003-2021)
The scope of the standard is: “…This document gives guidelines for managing psychosocial risk within occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system based on ISO 45001. It enables organizations to prevent work-related injury and ill health of their workers and other interested parties, and to promote well-being at work. It is applicable to organizations of all sizes and in all sectors, for the development, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of healthy and safe workplaces. NOTE When the term “worker” is used in this document, worker representatives, where they exist, are always implied…”
A reminder also that ASSP recently published:
A Guide to the ISO 45003-2021 Standard: Occupational Health and Safety Management – Psychological Health and Safety at Work – Guidelines for Managing Psychosocial Risks
This guide was developed by the ASSP Standards Team to provide an overview of ISO 45003 and to provide additional resources for those interested in learning more about this new ISO standard.:
www.assp.org/docs/default-source/…
The development of the ISO 45003 guidance document is aimed at bringing a greater focus to overall worker health, as well as safety, particularly in regard to how safety professionals can incorporate psychological risk analysis into their occupational safety and health management systems.
We will now move to publish the standard itself as ANSI/ASSP Standard and the TAG to ISO TC283 membership organizations will receive a copy of the standard.
IHMM and HMS
The graphic to the left illustrates the relationship between IHMM and HMS. IHMM formed HMS to serve IHMM’s certificates. IHMM offers a variety of professional credentials and HMS creates education and training programs to serve the applicants and certificants of those credentials.
Survey
The Hazardous Materials Society has created a survey to learn from IHMM’s certificants what those certificants need most. If HMS is to serve IHMM’s certificants we need IHMM’s certificants to respond to this survey.
Please go here for a short, 5 question survey that takes less than 2 minutes to take.
HMS Education and Training
Hazardous Materials Society now has 11,701 education and training programs on its website, with more coming every week. Certificants will note that most of these programs carry a CMP value, making it easier to know in advance what to expect. The HMS Education and Training platform also provides a wide variety of courses for professional development across all of IHMM’s credentials – and more are being developed by the HMS Education and Training Committee.
This is the center of education and training for IHMM certificants and prospective certificants. Among these more than 15.000 programs are webinars delivered online and virtually all carry IHMM CMPs values with them for your annual / 5-year CMP planning.
Hazardous Materials Society [HMS] Scholarship Applications for 2021 LIVE
Dan Levine, Chair of the HMS Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce that HMS Scholarship applications for 2021 are live and available on the HMS website.
Visit the HMS Scholarship page and click the big red button that says APPLY NOW GET THE APPLICATION FORM HERE!
Thank you to Dan and his committee for getting the HMS Scholarship open in 2021, and for more information and the application form, please visit the website link above.
Donate to HMS
One of the most important projects of the Hazardous Materials Society is our Scholarship Program.
HMS wants to make it as easy as possible for those who cannot always afford to participate in pursuing certification, or keeping up with professional development, or attending great conferences and receiving outstanding training. HMS does not solicit contributions from the general public. HMS does ask IHMM’s certificants and their companies and our education and training vendors to consider a contribution.
Here, through your generosity, you can make a difference in promoting the ability of those who can afford it least to become participants in our communities of practice.
It’s never too late to make a difference, so don’t let this opportunity to make a difference pass you by. Please consider a tax-deductible donation of $250, $500 or what you can to help build HMS’s effort to help others in our communities of practice.
Member Benefits of Hazardous Materials Society
81% of IHMM certificants are aware of the Hazardous Materials Society, which we appreciate. IHMM established the Hazardous Materials Society in order to support and provide services to IHMM certificants.
Did You Know?
Your company’s membership dues for Associate Membership in the Hazardous Materials Society (HMS) are 100% tax-deductible and your participation directly supports scholarship and education/training opportunities for professionals working in hazmat and EHS. Joining as an Associate Member expresses your commitment and your company’s leadership in giving back to our professional community. Join today to claim your tax deduction for the 2020 tax year while expressing your company’s professional affiliation and accessing tools for your marketing and business development plans.
To learn more about what HMS is doing now and what they are planning for the future, please see the new Member Benefits page here.
In February of 2020, the World Health Organization’s director-general has declared a public health emergency of international concern over the ongoing outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus. On March 13, 2020 President Trump declared a national emergency for the United States. IHMM and HMS’ first concern is with the safety and health of all of us; our staff and families, colleagues, certificants and members. We will update this page regularly as credible, authoritative information is available.
INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS, PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, AND LABORATORIES.
COVID-19 Data Tracker By State
COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing in Non-Healthcare Workplaces
COVID-19 Weekly Review – August 13, 2021
CDC Communications Toolkit
Are adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine recordable on the OSHA recordkeeping log?
In general, an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine is recordable if the reaction is: (1) work-related, (2) a new case, and (3) meets one or more of the general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7 (e.g., days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid).
If you require your employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment (i.e., for work-related reasons), then any adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine is work-related. The adverse reaction is recordable if it is a new case under 29 CFR 1904.6 and meets one or more of the general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7.
New! Vaccine Data Dashboard. We now have a specific dashboard dedicated to state vaccination plans, updated daily. For each state, you’ll find:
- Current distribution phase,
- Brief overview of state plan,
- Current and future eligible populations, and
- Links to state documentation.
A Collaborative Culture
There are 472 different conversations going on in the IHMM/HMS Collaboration platform this week. A collaborative culture is important for every business but is especially important for our hazardous materials, dangerous goods, environment, health, and safety communities of practice. IHMM credentialed professionals are at the top 1% of their professions and their reach is global. We are at the forefront of environmental protection, health, and safety and this is where collaborating with the best people in their fields, always willing to help one another, lessens the stress of our jobs, and where we strive as a team to make a difference of which we are proud.
We opened COLLABORATION to enable thousands of certificants and supporters to collaborate together. You can collaborate here.
Retiring? IHMM Invites You to Become an Emeritus
You may have decided, after a long and successful career, to retire from active daily duty. Congratulations. That doesn’t mean you have to completely disengage from your profession. IHMM is pleased to offer Emeritus status to all certificants who will no longer be actively engaged in their communities of practice but who still want to stay in touch. Please let us know when you’re approaching that decision and we will assist you in the credential transition.
Please contact Jim Drosdak at [email protected] and he’ll be happy to help you.
Columbia Southern University
The Hazardous Materials Society [HMS] is a partner of Columbia Southern University. Columbia Southern University is an online university based in Orange Beach, Alabama, that strives to change and improve lives through higher education by enabling students to maximize their professional and personal potential.
A subsidiary of Columbia Southern Education Group, CSU offers online degree programs at the associate, bachelor, master, doctorate or certificate levels in a multitude of areas such as occupational safety and health, fire administration, criminal justice, business administration, human resource management, health care administration and more. CSU also features undergraduate and graduate certificate programs to provide focused training in specialized areas for adult learners.
Click on the CSU graphic at left and learn more about the professional development and degree program opportunities at CSU.
IHMM CONFERENCES FOR 2021
IHMM will attend and support a number of conferences and trade shows throughout 2021, virtually as well as in-person as COVID issues allow. Below are some of the conferences IHMM will support in 2021.
Are there conferences you believe IHMM should attend that do not appear here? If so, let us know! Send an email to Diane McLevy and tell us what conferences we should attend.
College & University Hazardous Materials Management Conference
August 7-12, 2021
Denver, Colorado
This conference is being run entirely virtually.
ASSP Safety21 Conference & Expo
September 13-15, 2021
Austin, Texas
Join thousands of safety professionals at the Nation’s leading event for occupational safety!
This is an in-person conference with a virtual component. View the brochure.
EnviroWorkShops 2021 Global Enviro Summit
POSTPONED to April 4-7, 2022
Charlotte, North Carolina
This is an in-person and virtual conference. There are 100+ confirmed speakers and attendance is expected to be over 800.
Contaminated soil, groundwater, and the air is a global issue and over $1 trillion is spent every year to mitigate pollution. There is a lot still to learn from each other on how each segment of the environmental industry impacts the next. The 2021 Global EnviroSummit will include technical presentations from some of the world’s leaders on pollution control and the leading technologies that are used in the industry.
With over 75 speakers from around the globe, the EnviroSummit is likely the first environmental conference that will have presentations from all 6 continents about 4 different themes – Remediation, Air Quality, Vapor Intrusion, and Wastewater.
Registration Open Here
Register With Confidence in 2021
We understand that the future is uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so all registrations will be fully refundable for any reason until October 15, 2021. Register with confidence knowing that if your plans change, you’re fully covered.
Beltway Buzz – Ogletree & Deakins
RIP, Richard Trumka. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka died unexpectedly this week at the age of 72. A former coal miner, Trumka became president of the United Mine Workers of America in 1982. He was just 33 years old at the time. Trumka was elected AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer in 1995 and then AFL-CIO president in 2009. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) broke the sad news on the floor of the U.S. Senate. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chair Lauren McFerran described Trumka as “a steadfast defender of the rights protected by the [National Labor Relations Act] and importance of the work of the Board.” Speaker Pelosi has already discussed renaming the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act after the late labor leader.
It’s Infrastructure Week! The U.S. Senate this week began debating the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684), the 2,700-page infrastructure bill that has been the subject of heated negotiations over the last several weeks. (As a point of reference, the first published edition of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace was merely 1,225 pages long.) Here are a few things to note about the bill and the process going forward.
Hard infrastructure. The bill provides $1.2 trillion in funding for the building and repair of roads, bridges, ports, airports, public transit, broadband, power grid modernization, and other projects. The bill also takes steps to address climate change (it provides funding related to electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and carbon capture, for example), shrink red tape associated with major construction projects, and reduce pollution.
No PRO Act. Importantly, the bill does not contain provisions of the PRO Act, and it does not address paid leave, child care, Medicare expansion, unemployment insurance reforms, or other “social infrastructure” matters. Congressional Democrats plan to address these and other issues in subsequent legislation using the reconciliation process, which would allow them to pass such a bill with a simple majority vote.
ERTC shortened. Employers may want to note that the employee retention tax credit (ERTC), which was established by the CARES Act and extended in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, will terminate early under the bill. Currently, employers can claim the retention credit through the end of 2021, but this date would be pushed forward to October 1, 2021 (though certain small businesses that began operations in 2020 may claim the credit for the remainder of 2021). The provision is included as a funding mechanism for the bill.
Bipartisan push. The bill has significant bipartisan support, as 17 Senate Republicans voted with all Democrats to begin debate on the bill. In addition, the bill enjoys support from groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as from the AFL-CIO.
What comes next? As for timing (always hard to predict), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated that he would like to wrap up the amendment process quickly, which means that final passage of the legislation could take place sometime next week or sooner. Assuming the bill passes the Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives will then have an opportunity to address it. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has promised that she would not address the bill until the second “social infrastructure” bill passes the Senate. This all means that we could be continuing this discussion about both bills into the fall.
Pregnancy Accommodation Bill—One Step Closer to Law? On August 3, 2021, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) advanced the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) (H.R. 1065). The lopsided 19–2 committee vote on approval perhaps portends a favorable outcome for the bill on the Senate floor. The PWFA—which would require employers to make reasonable accommodation for pregnant workers (such as by providing more frequent bathroom breaks or easing lifting requirements)—has been on the Buzz’s radar for a while now. With this action this week, the bill moves one step closer to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Weil Nomination Slowed. In other Senate HELP Committee news, the committee voted 11–11 on David Weil’s nomination to be administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division. This means that Weil’s nomination (similar to the nomination of NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo) will need an additional vote from the full Senate in order to be discharged from the committee. Weil has the numbers on his side (ever so slightly), and he, like Abruzzo, will likely be confirmed in due course.
As the Buzz has previously discussed, Weil is known for his views on the “fissured workplace,” as well as a narrow interpretation of what it means to be an “independent contractor” and an expansive interpretation of “joint employer.”
Fed. Contractor Minimum Wage Reg. Deadline (Slightly) Extended. The DOL extended the deadline for stakeholders to submit comments in response to the proposed regulations implementing an increase in the minimum wage for certain employees of federal contractors. Interested parties probably should not think about booking a late-summer vacation, though: the period has only been extended from the original date of August 23, 2021, to August 27, 2021.
Congress Continues to Target Arbitration. House Democrats have reintroduced the Restoring Justice for Workers Act, which would “prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that require arbitration of work disputes.” The bill represents yet another front in the political battle over arbitration agreements. As the Buzz noted recently, another bill in the 117th Congress—the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (H.R. 4445/S. 2342)—proposes to limit the enforceability of certain arbitration agreements.
OSHA – Request for Information on the Mechanical Power Presses Standard
OSHA – Request for Information on the Mechanical Power Presses StandardThe U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is requesting information and comment on issues related to the mechanical power presses standard. OSHA is seeking information regarding whether it should update the mechanical power presses standard and, if so, how closely the standard should follow the current ANSI standard for mechanical power presses. It is also seeking information on the types of presses that should be covered, the use and certification of equipment, and other topics such as presence-sensing device initiation (PSDI) systems, and requirements for press modifications, training, and injury reporting. Please reference the Federal Register here.
Individuals may submit comments electronically at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket No. OSHA-2007-0003, which also includes documents referenced by OSHA in the RFI). Please refer to the Federal Register notice for additional details. The deadline for submitting comments is October 26, 2021.
Professional Certification Coalition [PCC] Year in Review and Prospectus for FY2021-2022
What We’ve Done for Certificants This Year
PCC’s new fiscal year (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022) began this month. As the calendar flips, we have prepared our annual “year in review” document highlighting the PCC’s major workstreams, accomplishments, and thought leadership over the past year. As you will likely be able to tell, even with the interruption of many state legislative sessions due to the pandemic, it was another busy and productive year for the Coalition. We are also including in the document a Prospectus section, outlining expected priorities for the fiscal year that just began. We hope that you all, your executives and Board members, and other stakeholders within your organization find this document useful in recognizing the value of your PCC membership. Please also feel free to share this document at your discretion with other like-minded organizations that may wish to join the PCC this year. While the depth of your commitment to participating in the PCC’s activities has been critical, we continue to believe that there is strength in numbers; it would be beneficial to expand our membership to include a wider array of professions/occupations and to give us the financial resources necessary to both deepen and broaden our state and federal advocacy efforts.
IHMM is proud to be a member of the PCC and joins with 117 other certification bodies around America defending our certificants.
Vendor Alert: 881 – How much of this business did you get?
IHMM has seen a 100% jump in applications and examinations over 2019, and for the first 5 months of 2021, we stand at 881. How much of this business did your company see?
If you’re missing out contact Diane McLevy at [email protected] and see how you can benefit from a relationship with IHMM and HMS.
IHMM-HMS EVENTS CALENDAR
IHMM has a companion organization for which education and training programs are presented and delivered. The Hazardous Materials Society education and training website can be found here.
IHMM AFFILIATIONS
9210 Corporate Boulevard, Suite 470
Rockville, Maryland, 20850
www.ihmm.org | [email protected]
Phone: 301-984-8969 | Fax: 301-984-1516