IHMM Today April 25, 2023

INSIDE IHMM

Clemson University Gets Safer – Thanks to an IHMM CHMP

Occupational and Environmental Safety announces Hazardous Materials Transportation Services pilot program

Research and job functions sometimes require the transportation of hazardous materials between Clemson University facilities within the state. Clemson University does not endorse the use of personal vehicles or public transportation for these functions and has formed a pilot program, “Clemson HazMat Transportation Services,” to determine the degree of need for a transport service. Upon request by a Clemson employee or student, Occupational and Environmental Safety (OES) personnel will assist with the packaging and delivery of hazardous materials to all Clemson University facilities using a Clemson University vehicle.

For more information and a link to the Hazmat Transportation Services Pickup Request Form, please visit the OES website.

OES requests that you give a three-day notice to allow time to process your request, gather the materials needed for packaging and schedule the pickup and delivery with both you and the receiver of the material.

Note: OES Staff will not leave any hazardous materials unattended, so please make sure that the person receiving is aware of this requirement. If no one is available to receive the material at the destination facility, OES will bring it back to you and you will be required to submit another request.

If you have any questions, please contact the Hazmat Transport Service Manager.

The Hazmat Transport Service Manager at Clemson University is June Brock-Carroll, CHMP, and currently serving on the IHMM Board and Chair of the IHMM Finance Committee and Treasurer. 

IHMM Board of Directors Nominations

IHMM Directors and Officers are volunteers who serve without pay. They may serve up to two, four-year terms. Directors are responsible for the governance of IHMM, including establishing the overall direction of IHMM, the appointment of Executive Director, policy-making, and financial management.

IHMM has two Board seats expiring at the end of 2023. IHMM is soliciting candidates for these two seats; one an At-Large Director seat that may be held by a CHMM, CHMP, CDGP, CSHM or CSMP. One a CSMP Director seat that must be held by a CSMP.

The composition of the present Board is here > https://ihmm.org/board-of-directors/

Qualified candidates may submit nomination papers [self nomination is acceptable] on or before June 30, 2023. The documents for this announcement, procedures, and nomination form are here:

• 2024 IHMM Nominations and Elections Process

• 2024 IHMM Call for Nominations

• 2024 IHMM Fillable Nominations Form

IHMM Excellence in EHS Management Award

The Excellence in EHS Management Award recognizes an individual who has excelled in their role as an EHS manager. The Institute for Hazardous Materials Management [IHMM] will present the award at the annual National Safety Council Expo.

The honoree will receive a commemorative plaque and be recognized in a press release and in IHMM member communications. Travel expenses to the award ceremony will be subsidized. If traveling from overseas IHMM will pay travel expenses from the nearest port of entry.

Nominations will be accepted from March through July of each year and the presentation to the winner will be in conjunction with the National Safety Council Congress and Expo, this year on October 23-25, 2023 in New Orleans.

Make your nominations here >>  https://ihmm.org/ehs-management-award/

See previous award winners here >> https://ihmm.org/past-honorees/

IHMM Needs Volunteers

“There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.” — Jimmy Doolittle. We all benefit from the expertise, knowledge sharing, content creation and mentoring that our volunteer leaders share with our communities of practice.

IHMM has a wide variety of ways that our certificants and members can volunteer their time, make a substantial contribution to their communities of practice, and earn valuable Continuing Maintenance Points [CMPs].

Volunteering with IHMM is a deeply rewarding and giving endeavor, ranging from being a subject matter expert on a scheme committee to leading discussions in our COLLABORATION engagement platform to becoming a mentor for a college student.

Take a few minutes and review How to Become An IHMM Volunteer, and then scroll down and take the volunteer self-assessment.

CHMP Scheme Committee

• Must be a CHMP > https://ihmm.org/chmp-scheme-committee/

Government Affairs Committee

• Open to all certificants, We need volunteers in these states:  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.
• > https://ihmm.org/government-affairs-committee/

IHMM Certifications in Development Update

• The Certified School Safety Manager [CSSM] credential has now had its examination questions loaded into the Kryterion system and we will be ready to deliver exams for this important credential. The draft website is here > https://ihmm.org/cssm/  and the only element left to complete is a 60-second video.
• The Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] credential had a review by the IHMM Board on April 21st and IHMM will be able to start to build the website. The examination questions for the CPPS exam are being loaded into the Kryterion system at this writing. Dan Blankfeld and Gene Guilford have met with the Maryland Congressional delegation on this credential and look forward to more meetings.
• The Associate Hazardous Materials Manager [AHMM] credential had a review by the IHMM Board on April 21st and other than an edit to the professional experience section of an option for eligibility, this credential’s examination questions are completed and is scheduled for launch by Memorial Day, 2023.

A Collaborative Culture

There are 956 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]

• Watch our webinar on ECHA’s new public data availability systemThe recording and presentations from our webinar introducing upcoming changes to our chemicals database are now available. Answers to questions received during the event will be published soon. 
• Member States’ plans to submit assessment reports

We have published a table with an overview of dates when evaluating competent authorities are planning to submit assessment reports for biocidal active substance approvals or renewals. The Biocidal Products Committee assesses these reports in their opinion-forming. The table will be updated regularly.

• ECHA provides advice on new hazard classes for substances and mixtures

• ECHA recommends eight substances for REACH authorisation

• ECHA seeks input on proposed PFAS restriction

EPA Faces Scrutiny Over EtO Curbs, Senators Launch Permitting Talks

EPA’s landmark plans to limit exposures to ethylene oxide (EtO), the controversial chemical used to sterilize medical equipment, faces scrutiny from government officials and environmentalists. The Senate environment committee is kicking off closely watched talks on overhauling environmental permitting. Also, GAO is slated to release its annual list of “high-risk” programs at EPA and other agencies that are “vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement.”

Sterilizers’ Air Toxics

EPA’s plans to curb exposures to the solvent ethylene oxide (EtO) from commercial sterilizers are drawing attention. In particular, EPA is proposing to curb EtO and enhance monitoring under its Clean Air Act air toxics standards, and also to introduce stringent workplace safety standards under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Environmental Permitting

The Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee will hold an April 26 hearing to launch its closely watched talks on overhauling environmental permitting. The hearing comes at a pivotal time for the permitting debate, with attention focused on the potential for a Senate compromise after the House passed a largely party-line energy and permitting package that Democrats assert is a nonstarter.

Scheduled witnesses include officials with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers, as well as a former Obama Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) chief who is now with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Chemical Security

Jen Easterly, director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is slated to testify at an April 27 hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee on the nation’s current cybersecurity posture for defense of critical infrastructure through public-private collaboration.

The hearing could provide an opportunity for policymakers to discuss CISA’s pending proposal to overhaul its years-old chemical security program — which hinges on Congress reauthorizing it before it expires in July.

TSCA Evaluations

EPA’s Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) will convene April 24 for a “preparatory meeting” in advance of its peer review of two draft TSCA documents outlining the agency’s proposed “principles” for considering cumulative risks posed by overlapping chemical exposures under the law, and a separate “approach” to conducting a cumulative assessment of five phthalates.

Public comments on both documents are set to close the same week, on April 28.

The drafts have already drawn sharply contrasting responses from industry and environmental groups; environmentalists who have long urged EPA to analyze cumulative risks see the documents as a positive step, though short of what they sought, while trade associations are warning that the discipline may not be mature enough to qualify as the “best available science” that TSCA requires the agency to use.

–Inside EPA

6th Circuit Stays WOTUS Enforcement In Kentucky, Blocking EPA’s Sole Win

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is temporarily blocking enforcement of the Biden administration’s rule revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in Kentucky in order to provide a federal court in the Commonwealth time to consider state and industry motions for a preliminary injunction pending appeal.

A three-judge panel issued an April 20 order granting the petitioners an administrative stay barring enforcement of EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers’ joint rule until May 10, undoing — at least in the short term — the only district court decision so far refusing to grant such a stay in several pending legal challenges.

In their order, Circuit Judges Raymond Kethledge, nominated by President George W. Bush, and John Bush, nominated by President Donald Trump, along with Senior Circuit Judge Ralph Guy Jr., nominated by President Ronald Reagan, said the plaintiffs’ motions for an injunction pending appeal are still pending before the district court and the government has “not identified any particular interest in immediate enforcement of the final rule.”

–Inside EPA

States File D.C. Circuit Suits As Cases Over Interstate Ozone Plans Expand

States and other litigants challenging EPA’s denial of their plans to cut interstate ozone have filed a host of “protective” suits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as insurance should their suits in other appellate courts fail on venue grounds, as litigation over EPA’s plan denials mushrooms in regional appeals courts.

The D.C. Circuit earlier this week consolidated these suits as State of Utah v. EPA, selecting as the lead case a suit filed April 13 in which the Beehive State challenges EPA’s Feb. 13 rule denying the state’s plan to mitigate interstate ozone emissions under the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” provision.

The rule disapproved the state implementation plans (SIPs) of multiple states, clearing the way for EPA to impose its latest, toughest iteration of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) emissions trading program, which the agency released March 15 but has yet to publish in the Federal Register.

Initially, states including Utah, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas challenged the rule in regional appeals courts, claiming that they are suing only over the rule as it applies to their SIPs, which are locally or regionally applicable.

–Inside EPA

EPA Floats Broad Methylene Chloride Phaseout With Worker Safeguards

EPA is proposing a landmark TSCA risk management rule for the solvent methylene chloride that would phase out its manufacture and distribution for all consumer and most commercial uses, leaving a handful of “critical” activities including military applications and climate-friendly refrigerant manufacturing that would instead be subject to new worker-safety protections.

The proposed rule, which EPA unveiled April 20 ahead of its publication in the Federal Register, would set a 15-month deadline to eliminate most “manufacturing, processing and distribution of methylene chloride for all consumer uses and most industrial and commercial uses,” according to the agency’s announcement.

Exempt uses of the solvent, including its application as feedstock for climate-friendly refrigerants and various activities at NASA, the Defense Department (DOD) and the Federal Aviation Administration, would be governed by “a workplace chemical protection program with strict exposure limits to better protect workers,” EPA says.

–Inside EPA

Environmentalists Press EPA To Toughen Effluent Limits For Range Of Sectors

Environmentalists are stepping up pressure on EPA to toughen Clean Water Act (CWA) effluent limits on a range of industrial sectors, just weeks after the agency issued its biennial plan that targets PFAS releases from select industrial sectors as well as nutrients from meat processing facilities and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Since EPA’s release of its Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) Program Plan 15 in January, environmentalists have sued the agency to pressure officials to update years-old ELGs for several major industrial sectors while advocating for tougher limits on power plants and nitrogen fertilizer production facilities.

They have also struck agreements with the agency in their lawsuits setting deadlines for officials to act on their plans to update existing ELGs for CAFOs.

Earlier this month, a broad array of groups sued the agency, charging officials are violating the CWA by failing to update ELGs for seven industrial sectors that were last updated in the 1980s.

2023 National Safety Stand Down to Prevent Falls in Construction – May 1-5, 2023

Fatalities caused by falls from elevation continue to be a leading cause of death for construction employees, accounting for 378 of the 986 construction fatalities recorded in 2021 (BLS data). Those deaths were preventable. The National Safety Stand-Down raises fall hazard awareness across the country in an effort to stop fall fatalities and injuries.

What is a Safety Stand-Down?

A Safety Stand-Down is a voluntary event for employers to talk directly to employees about safety. Any workplace can hold a stand-down by taking a break to focus on “Fall Hazards” and reinforcing the importance of “Fall Prevention”. Employers of companies not exposed to fall hazards, can also use this opportunity to have a conversation with employees about the other job hazards they face, protective methods, and the company’s safety policies and goals. It can also be an opportunity for employees to talk to management about fall and other job hazards they see.

Who Can Participate?

Anyone who wants to prevent hazards in the workplace can participate in the Stand-Down. In past years, participants included commercial construction companies of all sizes, residential construction contractors, sub- and independent contractors, highway construction companies, general industry employers, the U.S. Military, other government participants, unions, employer’s trade associations, institutes, employee interest organizations, and safety equipment manufacturers.

• Webinar: Preventing Falls through Improved Design (Wednesday, March 29 at 2:00 p.m. ET). This interorganizational webinar will begin with a general explanation of Prevention through Design (PtD) and how it can be used to improve not only building design, but also work and equipment design.

For more information >> https://www.osha.gov/stop-falls-stand-down

OSHA’s Safe + Sound Campaign is a nationwide opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of the value of proactive occupational safety and health (OSH) programs in all workplaces. Mark your calendars! Safe + Sound Week will take place from August 7-13, 2023. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe. Registration for Safe + Sound Week opens in early July.  We look forward to your participation!

Safe + Sound emphasizes the need for safety programs at small- and mid-sized businesses, which are more likely to have limited resources dedicated to safety. As you know, effective OSH programs can help organizations identify and manage workplace risk before they cause injury or illness, improving sustainability and the bottom line. Safety and health management systems are a critical best practice to ensure that OSH programs achieve significant results and lower risk exposure.

Earn a Challenge Coin

Workers are an important resource for identifying workplace hazards and implementing changes. Safety reporting systems allow ideas and suggestions for improving safety to be captured.

Take the Speak Up for Safety Challenge! Review your safety reports with a team to find common themes and opportunities to improve your overall workplace safety and health performance.

Complete the challenge and earn your virtual challenge coin! Then, share the results in your workplace and on social media to show how you encourage workers to #SpeakUpForSafety to be #SafeAndSoundAtWork.

Your Partner Punch List

We would appreciate if you could support Safe + Sound by doing the following:

• Promote the Speak Up for Safety Challenge to your stakeholders

Sponsored Content

Respiratory Protection Program Management – Susan Harwood Training Grant

University of Texas Medical Branch, William J. Pate, CHMM

This training course is intended to educate participants on the requirements of developing and implementing a compliant Respiratory Protection Program. The focus of this course will be on topics related to preparation for an infectious disease pandemic. At the end of this training the attendee should be able to:
1) Manage an effective respiratory protection program through proficient application of 29 CFR 1910.134
2) Compare potential routes of exposure
3) Identify and implement potential controls (engineering, administrative, and PPE)
4) List the equipment needed to support fit testing
5) Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative fit testing
6) Discuss the different types of respiratory protection available
7) Demonstrate correct donning/doffing of respiratory protection

This training course is 7.5 hours and participants will receive a certificate of completion that may be suitable for professional certification maintenance (CSP, CIH, CHMM, CHSP, etc.).

This course will provide 7.5 Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) contact hours. Accreditation statement: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is approved with distinction as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Louisiana State Nurses Association –  Approver, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. LSNA Provider No. 4002176

This training is available only to employees and employers who are subject to OSHA regulatory requirements.  Grant-funded training is not available to state or local government employees unless they have occupational safety & health responsibilities (e.g. occupational safety and health trainers, program managers, committee members, or employees responisble for abating unsafe and unhealthy working conditions for their organization).  Registration in this course confirms that meet these conditions.  This training will include the opportunity to don, doff, and fit test respiratory protection including N95, half-face, full-face, and powered air-purifying respirators.  Anyone participating in this training and wanting to put on a respirator agrees that they have been medically cleared by their employer to do so in accordance with OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard.

The 8-hour training program is offered at various dates from March through September. For more information and registration for this FREE program go here >> https://www.utmb.edu/ehs/programs/radiation-occupational-safety-program/RPPSHTG2023

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.

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