EHS Professional – December 1, 2022

US Department of Labor Inspection Finds Employees at TJ Maxx Store in Pooler Exposed to Fire, Entrapment, Struck-by Hazards

Following a workplace safety inspection, federal investigators determined a Pooler location of a national discount retailer stacked and stored merchandise unsafely, exposing workers to struck-by hazards from falling boxes and preventing them from exiting the store quickly in an emergency.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to TJX Companies Inc., the Massachusetts-based operator of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and other department stores, for exposing workers to fire, entrapment and struck-by hazards. Inspectors found blocked exit routes and unstable merchandise storage at a T.J. Maxx Store in Pooler, in violation of federal workplace safety standards.

OSHA also found the company failed to keep the storage and receiving room free from an excess number of cardboard boxes and other trash, which exposed workers to slip, trip and fall hazards.

The inspection identified two repeat violations and one serious violation. OSHA proposed $239,290 in penalties.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20221129

OSHA’s Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for 2022

Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501) maintained its position as OSHA’s most frequently cited worker safety and health standard in fiscal year 2022, marking its 12th straight year atop the agency’s “Top 10” list.

Here, Safety+Health presents the Top 10 data for FY 2022 (which concluded Sept. 30), the “penalty box” of the year’s largest fines, an exclusive interview with Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, and a listing of Safety+Health advertisers offering products and services to help you avoid OSHA’s Top 10 most cited violations.

Read more > https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/23234-oshas-top-10-fy2022

Roofing Contractor Continues to Expose Workers to Potentially Deadly Fall Hazards, US Department of Labor Inspections in Appleton Area Find

An Appleton, Wisconsin, contractor with a long history of exposing employees to dangerous fall hazards now faces $349,371 in additional penalties after U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors observed roofing workers at heights greater than 6 feet at risk of serious or fatal injuries at two Appleton-area jobsites in May and June 2022.

OSHA has cited Hector Able Hernandez – the operator of Town City Construction – repeatedly for exposing employees to fall hazards and proposed $633,500 in OSHA penalties – still mostly unpaid – for similar violations found during 16 inspections since 2004.

On May 16, 2022, in Greenville and on June 24, 2022, in Appleton, federal inspectors found Hernandez had employed 15 workers at the two sites for two weeks or less.

Following these inspections, OSHA cited Hernandez for three willful and two serious safety violations for failing to provide eye, head and fall protection and train workers on fall hazards.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20221129-0

Thankful for Safety Leaders

A heartful thanks to the safety leaders who were named earlier this year as part of the NSC Distinguished Service to Safety Award.

As many of us are voicing our thanks to the people in our lives, this includes our colleagues. So in that spirit, we want to show appreciation for some distinguished safety leaders. Earlier this year The National Safety Council recognized outstanding service by safety professionals through its NSC Distinguished Service to Safety Award. To receive this award, candidates must have had a sustained impact on the safety movement at the local, national or international level that resulted in increased injury prevention. Contributions to research are also recognized.

View the list of 2022 winners by clicking here.

EHS Today Presents “Safety Week of Learning” from December 13-15, 2022

The SafetyWeek of Learning is an immersive and engaging three-day webinar series for safety leaders to advance their mission, keeping their workplaces safe and protecting their workers from harm. The event features highlighted keynote and track sessions from the Safety Leadership Conference, selected by the EHS Today editorial team.

Why Attend:

• Discover how to implement transformational safety leadership within your own company
• Acquire OSHA guidance
• Case studies on implementing best safety practices in your workplace
• Learn how to integrate safety compliance into the culture of your business
• Improve your knowledge of latest safety technology

Register at > https://endeavor.swoogo.com/ehs_safety-week-of-learning-2022/?sti=NL

Paraeducators File Safety Complaint Over Hazardous Working Conditions

Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) paraeducators, the people who work with the county’s most physically and developmentally disabled students, have filed a complaint with Cal/OSHA over what they say is dangerous understaffing that puts workers and students at risk for injuries, abuse and violence.

On Nov. 15, SEIU Local 521, representing these workers, rallied in San Jose to draw attention to the paraeducators’ plight. The rally drew over 100 workers and parents, as well as local leaders San Jose City Council Member Omar Torres and SCCOE board members Reena Lari and Tara Sreekrishnan.

The paraeducators allege that the county “failed to establish, implement and maintain” an effective workplace violence prevention program…in the workplace.” [cal osha letter 11-22]They say staffing has fallen to dangerous levels and the consequences are horrific for staff and students alike.

Read more > https://www.svvoice.com/paraeducators-file-safety-complaint-over-hazardous-working-conditions/

OSHA Looks for Member Nominations for Advisory Committee

The deadline for nominations for the Maritime Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health is January 13, 2023.

OSHA is now looking for member nominations for the Maritime Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH)

According to a news release, MACOSH is for those interested in keeping workers safe in the “shipyard, longshoring and commercial fishing industries.” Fifteen members will be selected to serve two-year terms. Meetings are held twice per year.

Started in 1995, MACOSH plays a role in the maritime industry by advising the Secretary of Labor on standards and other matters, OSHA said. Members are appointed by the Assistant Secretary and include “four to represent management, four to represent labor, three to represent occupational safety and health professions; and four to represent government.”

Nominations can be submitted until January 13, 2023, on the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

Read the original article > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2022/11/29/osha-looks-for-member-nominations.aspx

Monkeypox virus: New fact sheet from OSHA

In an effort to prevent work-related transmission of the monkeypox virus, OSHA is urging employers and workers whose jobs may involve skin-to-skin contact with infected people or animals to take precautions.

According to a new fact sheet from OSHA, at-risk workers include health care workers and first responders; workers in congregate settings such as hotels, correctional facilities, and recreational facilities or social venues; massage, spa, fitness and salon workers; housekeepers, janitors, cleaning service workers, dry cleaning and laundry workers; and animal care workers, including veterinary staff.

Citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fact sheet notes that although the risk of exposure is “extremely low” in most work settings, monkeypox “can spread through direct contact with an infected person or animal – including close contact with a monkeypox rash, scabs or body fluids, including respiratory droplets – and contaminated materials such as clothing, bedding and towels.”

Symptoms can include a painful or itchy rash, headaches, fatigue, back and body aches, fever, chills, and swollen lymph nodes. On rare occasions, respiratory issues such as a cough, sore throat or nasal congestion are possible.

Read more > https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/23313-monkeypox-virus-new-fact-sheet-from-osha

Back to Basics: Respiratory Protection

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine OSHA’s requirements for respiratory protection.

Respiratory protection is important in many different industries, and it has played an even greater role in the workforce since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to OSHA, respirators protect against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors, and sprays, which are hazards that could cause cancer, lung impairment, diseases, or death. Millions of employees are required to wear respirators, and compliance with OSHA’s respiratory protection standard can help avoid thousands of illnesses and hundreds of deaths every year.

Read more > https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2022/11/back-to-basics-respiratory-protection/

IHMM Certified School Safety Manager® [CSSM®] Credential

Mike Howe, CSSM, Chair of the CSSM-CSSS Committee, is pleased to announce that the committee now releases its credential blueprint. When IHMM took over the CSSM credential in 2019 it had no blueprint or examination. Thanks to the outstanding leadership of Mike Howe leading his committee not only do we have a credential blueprint, we are almost ready to begin finalizing the CSSM examination as well.

Identifying all of the threats and vulnerabilities likely to impact a K-12 school district or post-secondary schools is a critical part of the emergency operations planning process for all schools. One only has to look at the day’s news to understand the importance of having professional, certified school safety managers in place guiding the planning and execution of sound safety programs. Colonel Chris Owens, a CSSM committee member, is already at work with the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency on how what IHMM is creating can be incorporated into the operations of Georgia schools.

This IHMM committee is making the CSSM credential real, and is starting to engage their communities with efforts to make schools safer using professionally certified school safety managers. Look for the new CSSM examination before the end of 2022.

The new CSSM credential blueprint is found here.

IHMM Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist® [CPPS®] Credential

Dan Blankfeld, CSHM, CSMP, Chair of the Microcredential Task Force, is pleased to announce the release of the IHMM Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] credential blueprint. The Task Force received more than 200 suggestions for microcredentials that could be used in conjunction with existing IHMM credentials to add depth to specific knowledge and experience areas. Microcredentials are short, focused credentials designed to provide in-demand skills, know-how and experience.

A Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist® (CPPS®) Microcredential holder is first a CHMM or CSHM credentialed professional who has demonstrated, through education, experience, and examination, the ability to identify and assess the risks associated with pathogens and their effect on public health, commerce, industry, and/or government operation. The focus of the CPPS microcredential is to: assess and provide guidance concerning the preparedness levels of different entities, and develop and implement risk-reduction strategies.

The Task Force is making progress on the construction of the CPPS examination at this writing. We look forward to the completion of the examination and launch of the credential to the IHMM community and then begin working with federal officials from the CDC, NIH, and White House Pandemic Innovation Task Force on being better prepared for the next pandemic. Read the March, 2022 release from the White House here.

The new CPPS credential blueprint is found here.

In 2019 Mark Bruce from AHMP and Gene Guilford from IHMM worked on a project to get the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to recognize the CHMM and CDGT credentials. With Mark’s work on the ground in  Pennsylvania, we succeeded. The 45 in 5 Project is for ALL IHMM credentials. This summer we have worked on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers health and safety manual that recognizes the CSHM and CSMP credentials. We are working with a CSHM in New York on their Department of Labor recognizing the CSHM.

• We have already succeeded in 13 states – New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Indiana, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma. Ohio, North Dakota, and Georgia. [Red states in the map above]. These are states where IHMM credentials are cited or 40 CFR 312.10 is cited by reference.
• We have partially succeeded in another 16 states – Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. [Orange/Black Stripe states in the map above] These are states where the requirements of an “environmental professional” or QEP are cited that coincide with an IHMM credential so that relatively little work would need to be done to clarify the desired outcome.
• We have 21 states where no reference to an IHMM credential is made in either statute or regulation, nor is there anything defined in the area of an environmental professional. These states will require legislation or regulatory work. [Yellow states in the map above].

In January 2021 Mark at AHMP and Gene at IHMM has launched 45 in 5, getting the other 45 states to recognize our credentials in 5 years. If we can find a volunteer like Mark in other states [see above] we can work with those volunteers on crafting the right message to the right agencies in state governments across the country. If we find enough volunteers we can get this done in less than 5 years.

In January 2022 Gene Guilford released the 40 CFR § 312.10 EPA regulation that states a private certification that meets or exceeds the requirements of the regulation is an Environmental Professional under the regulation. Here is the crosswalk between the 40 CFR § 312.10 EPA regulation and the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager [CHMM] blueprint. The CHMM meets or exceeds the requirements of an Environmental Professional. 

Here’s what we ask each volunteer to do:

• Watch legislative and regulatory developments in your state that provide an opportunity for us to create amendments or other interventions
• Be willing to speak with regulators and legislators in your area about the recognition efforts we craft together

Learn more about the AHMP-IHMM 45 in 5 Project here

OSHA’s FY 2023 Outreach Initiatives

IHMM  – 26 Fellows Are Mentors 

IHMM Fellows Committee Chair Atanu Das, CHMM, is leading the effort within the IHMM Collaboration networking platform to provide instruction to the more than 75 IHMM Fellows in becoming mentors.

Given the extraordinary experience Fellows have, this is a unique opportunity for IHMM Fellows to help guide more recent certificants in their professional development activities.

IHMM’s Collaboration platform contains a “Mentor Match” module [see below at right] that allows mentors to signup designating the hours, number of mentees, subject areas, and length of time they wish to mentor – as well as allowing mentees to signup requesting assistance in specified areas. The mentor match module does the rest by matching mentors and mentees.

Recert Video #1

Recert Video #2

IHMM Recertification Videos

IHMM is pleased to release two YouTube instructional videos about navigating the IHMM recertification process. These step-by-step videos easily enable IHMM certificants to start and complete a recertification application.

While the full recertification cycle is 5 years, IHMM encourages all certificants to start a recertification application and add certification maintenance points as they are earned to make the final submission quick and easy to accomplish.

• Every CSHM and CSMP should start a recertification application now.
• Even if your recertification is years away, starting an application now and adding your accumulated points enables you to see where you are all the time and it makes it very easy when you have to file your application

IHMM Scholarship Program

The Institute of Hazardous Materials Management is pleased to have created $32,000 in academic scholarships, divided equally between $16,000 for students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate education in approved schools and who are also Student CHMMs, and $16,000 for students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate education in approved schools and who are also Student ASHMs.

IHMM seeks to foster the growth and academic success of students whose courses of education, and participation in one of our Student certifications, will lead to those students becoming fully-certified IHMM credential holders later in their professional lives.  The first two IHMM Scholarships were awarded before Thanksgiving to Thomas Gerding, Student ASHM, and Ryan Bellacov, Student CHMM! Congratulations to Thomas and Ryan for being our first scholarship award winners.

Go to >  https://ihmm.org/scholarship/

IHMM is a member of ASSP and is pleased to bring this important information to all of its certificants.

ASSP News

• ASSP Helps Safety and Health Professionals Get Recognized

• A Safety Professional’s Journey

• The Conceptual Toolbox: 6 Ideas For Addressing Workplace Safety Issues

ASSP Webinars

RCM&D Professional Liability Insurance

HMS is proud to have partnered with RCM&D to be able to offer an outstanding comprehensive professional liability insurance program to IHMM certificants. Here, you will find information about this important program offering Environmental Consultants and Engineers Professional Liability coverage. This coverage is intended to add protection for loss stemming from actual or alleged negligent acts, errors and omissions in performing professional services.

For more information see > https://hazmatsociety.org/professional-liability-insurance/

There are 820 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. Do you have a problem you need to solve and want the opinions of your colleagues? This is where we come together to help each other.

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.

Access to COLLABORATION is through the same username/password you use to access your MYIHMM account. Having a problem? Contact Jimmy Nguyen at [email protected]