IHMM Today March 9, 2021

IHMM UPDATES

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Student CHMM To Go Mainstream

On Friday, March 5, 2021, after a year-long pilot program, the IHMM Board of Directors authorized the Student CHMM credential to go mainstream with other colleges and universities across the country. There are 88 Student CHMM applicants and IHMM’s introduction of students to the world of private certifications has opened up new opportunities for students, their schools, and IHMM as well. Now we are prepared to build on that record.

Student CHMM’s have their own community in Collaboration, as well as a “mentor match” program in Collaboration that allows students to connect with senior CHMMs for guidance about their career paths.

Thank you for participating and IHMM looks for great things to come from bringing students into our communities of practice.

New IHMM CHMM Exam to be Released in May 2021

The new CHMM exam based on the Test Specification (Blueprint) is expected to go into effect in late May 2021.  The blueprint provides the areas of competency that a minimally qualified candidate must have to be deemed competent.  IHMM uses validation studies to ensure the subject material in its examination is relevant to the current practice.

THE UPDATED CHMM BLUEPRINT IS FOUND HERE.

The CHMM exam could not have become the gold standard certification in the hazardous materials profession without the tremendous effort and participation from the CHMM Examination Committee members.

The eligibility requirements for the CHMM examination will remain the same.

1. Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.
2. Minimum of four years of relevant experience in the field of hazardous materials management or a related field.

The following is a synopsis of the changes:

• In general, a significant amount of the general concepts identified in the current blueprint carried over to the new blueprint.
• Testing objectives were added for all the Domains, increasing the focus on application, rather than simply knowledge of concepts or definitions.
• The Domain weights (percent of the exam) shifted slightly for all the Domains. Increases for Domains 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, and decreases for Domains 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12.
• Domains 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 12 combined a few competencies and tasks.

The CHMM Examination Committee recently aligned Domain 10 (Management Systems) of the new CHMM Test Specification to the words used in ISO 14001:2015, third edition, Environmental Management Systems (EMS).  The subdomains are modified with the words that are aligned to the ISO standard and are highlighted below:

For more information about the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager certification program, including eligibility requirements and application procedures, see the IHMM Candidate Handbook available at www.ihmm.org.  If you have questions about the CHMM Blueprint, please contact M. Patricia Buley at [email protected].

IHMM & AHMP Launch 45 in 5 – National Credential Recognition – 21 States Targeted

On January 25th, we began outlining the strategy to go after the 21 states in yellow, above.

This is just the beginning. Here is the present composition of the 45 In 5 Task Force and the states we are focusing on. More people may volunteer anytime!  https://ihmm.org/45-in-5-task-force/

• The State of Nebraska under 178 NAC Chapter 24 of the Department of Health and Human Services regulations recognizes the CHMM as eligible for remediation services. Thank you, Mary Duda.
• The State of California, Yuba Water Agency, PG&E Corp, Comcast, City of Elk Grove, Kaiser Permanente, thank you Cheryl Stith, who is working with Bart Miller on other agencies in California as well
• Sean Strong in the State of Colorado reports that the State DOT recognized the CHMM for positions there and he’s getting the documentation of that for us.
• At our March meeting, we further discussed efforts underway in Washington state, Iowa, and also organizing filing an initiated federal rulemaking to amend 40 CFR § 310.12 /Definitions to include the CHMM.
• Robert Wilkinson is working in the State of Tennessee on credential recognition
• Ineke Abunwass is helping us in the State of Georgia with credential recognition
• Jerome Fields, Eric Johnson, and Tony Uliano are working in the State of Washington on credential recognition
• Bill Diesslin in the State of Iowa is working on credential recognition there under a groundwater program

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.

Since the launch, we have added Delaware, Florida, Texas, California, Washington, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Iowa, North Carolina, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and New Mexico as the next states for us to work on with 42 volunteers.

Now 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 45 other states 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.

The Task Force meets again in April

IHMM NEWS RECENT UPDATES

IHMM is a member of the National Safety Council and is pleased to bring this important information to all of its certificants.

• 2021 is the Year of the Safety Hero, NSC president says

• ‘The exposures are in the areas that we’re not looking at,’ Pitzer says during Occupational Keynote

• NIOSH director warns of COVID-19 endemic, looks to the future

• What Biden’s Sustainability Agenda Means for Business

NSC Impact Tracks

The NSC Impact Tracks provide valuable educational opportunities for safety professionals looking to enhance their career, brush up on their skills and earn CEUs in the comfort of their home or office. This new virtual opportunity provides a day of topically focused education featuring five 60 minute technical sessions, lunch and stretch breaks, and an opening welcome from NSC  President & CEO, Lorraine Martin. Each session will be taught by leading safety and subject experts in the field.

SAVE MY SPOT

NSC Webinars

• March 9 – Introduction to the Safety Application of Immersive Technology
• March 30 – Immersive Technology & the Future of Work
• March 16 – Virtual Reality for Enhanced Safety Training

Please join us in participating in Safe + Sound Week from August 9-15, 2021. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event held each August to show your business’s commitment to keep workers safe year-round. Safe + Sound Week is also a time when information and ideas are shared to help get your safety and health program started or improve an existing program.

Download the Save the Date and share that you’ll be participating in Safe + Sound Week on social media using #SafeAndSoundAtAWork.

Registration opens in July and will be announced via IHMM Today and EHS Professional.

Building Climate Change Resilience Virtual Training

EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities initiative is providing free virtual training sessions on its Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT) for the Northeast climate region of the country. This training assists drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities in planning for and adapting to climate change threats with a focus on resilience building and infrastructure financing. The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, National Association of Water Companies, and NEIWPCC are helping to coordinate and co-sponsoring these events.

Training Objectives

• Conduct a risk assessment using CREAT;
• Identify and share information on adaptation strategies to build utility long-term resilience; and
• Share information on available resources for financing resilience and adaptation.

Upcoming Sessions

• CREAT Modules 3 (Consequences and Assets) and 4 (Adaptation Planning)
• Session 3: March 9, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. E.T.
• CREAT Module 5 (Risk Assessment) and an overview of local financial resources utilities can apply for to fund adaptation measures
• Session 4: March 23, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. E.T
• A brief overview of previous information, then open agenda for attendees to ask questions about using CREAT, how to apply it to their circumstances, and how to seek funding for adaptation strategies. (Optional)

**Earn Continuing education units (CEUs) from select states **

REGISTER HERE

HMS and Earning Certification Maintenance Points [CMPs]

IHMM created HMS, in large measure, so that IHMM certificants could have one, central place within which to find professional development courses in which to earn certification maintenance points. HMS courses cover all of IHMM’s 8 credentials, not only one.

We’ve made it easy to find CMPs.

• Go to https://hazmatsociety.org/
• Go to the Education and Training tab
• Scroll down until you see these buttons…and click on the CMPs button

• The system will produce a listing of the programs on the platform that have already been reviewed and given CMP ratings. You can find the programs suitable for you.

For example, one of the programs is from Columbia Southern University, offered online, has 36 CMPs attached, and is FREE. This is only one example. There are hundreds of programs on HMS.

HMS UPDATES

HMS Donations

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.

HMS Education and Training

Hazardous Materials Society now has 14,918 education and training programs on its website https://hazmatsociety.org/education-training/ 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. SEE: https://hazmatsociety.org/education-training/

HMS Affinity Programs –  RCM&D Professional Liability Insurance

With more than 27,000 people – here is where HMS leverages our numbers for member’s benefit. There is strength and value in numbers and that translates into lower costs for you.

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.