EHS Professional May 13, 2021

IHMM Credential Recognition

Below you will see the 3 EHS credential badges that are now in each 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 UPDATES

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.

CDC – When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated

If you are fully vaccinated against #COVID19, you can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, incl. local business and workplace guidance.

Read More > https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html 

CALL TO ACTION – Representative Spanberger of Virginia’s 7th Congressional District has drafted legislation entitled,  H.R. 2171, “Freedom To Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act.” This legislation expands the provisions of existing law with respect to the allowable uses of Section 529 education tuition accounts.

PLEASE GO HERE TO PARTICIPATE: https://ihmm.org/45-in-5-task-force/

All you have to do is enter your name, address, and zip code and the IHMM VoterVoice system does the rest and automatically sends our message to your Senators and members of the House of Representatives. It’s very easy and matters!

A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged savings plan designed to encourage saving for future education costs. 529 plans, legally known as “qualified tuition plans,” are sponsored by states, state agencies, or educational institutions and are authorized by Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. Under H.R. 2171 those pursuing or who already have private credentials may use their Section 529 savings for applications, examinations, professional development/certification maintenance points costsrecertification, and so on.

The “Freedom To Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act” will enable those who seek professional, post-secondary credentials from institutions recognized by the Internal Revenue Service.  A copy of the draft legislation is here.

Spanberger co-led the introduction of the legislation alongside U.S. Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI-06), Dean Phillips (D-MN-03), and Rob Wittman (R-VA-01). A companion bill in the U.S. Senate is led by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Braun (R-IN). 

On-Site Consultation Program

OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program offers no-cost and confidential occupational safety and health services for small and medium-sized business in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories.  When employers use consultation services, the employers and their workers experience benefits that include lower injury and illness rates, improved morale, and economic benefits. In fact, the On-Site Consultation Program generates national economic benefits of approximately $1.3 billion per year.

 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.

Join a twitter chat hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor on Twitter at @ePolicyWorks. Use #EPWChat to follow along on Tuesday, May 18th at 1:00 p.m. ET A discussion how these innovative organizations successfully engage and support teens. The results of the Twitter chat and the corresponding online dialogue will be used to improve the ways USDOL reaches teens to educate them on their workplace rights and responsibilities.

• 2021 Job Outlook

• Opioids and the Workforce

• OSHA standards and the “competent person”

• What is hypothenar hammer syndrome?

• Selecting Goals for NIOSH Research Proposals

• OSHA brings awareness to construction hazards with ‘Prevent Falls in Construction Week’

• FDA Policy Supports The Use of Tenney Environmental Chambers to Process N95 Respirators

• NIOSH questionnaire aimed at gauging, enhancing worker well-being

NSC Webinars

• May 13 – Metalworking Fumes: Using Filtration to Achieve Safety Compliance

• May 13 – Preparing for Summer and Beyond with Mass Notification

• May 19 – Accident Investigations: Finding and eliminating root causes

• May 20 – Respiratory Protection Program: What OSHA’s Looking for and How to Protect Against New Hazards

• May 20 – OH&S Industrial Hygiene Virtual Summit 

• May 20 – Housekeeping Tips for Your Safety Program

• May 26 –Webinar: New Administration, New Changes for OSHA

• June 2 – Webinar: OSHA Safety Training – How to Make it Effective

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.

Take the Pledge

When management leadership is sincere and is supported by actions, workers know that safety and health are important to business success. Top management can demonstrate its commitment to workplace safety and health in many different ways, such as by developing and communicating a safety pledge. Download A Safety and Health Pledge for Managers template, choose specific actions you will take to support workplace safety and health, and share the pledge with your workers and on social media using #SafeAndSoundAtAWork.

SafetyFOCUS Events Are Now Virtual

Due to the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and its cascading effects on safety and health, work, travel, and large gatherings, all SafetyFOCUS events are now virtual. Our hope is that this format will make SafetyFOCUS events more accessible while offering the same networking opportunities and high-quality education you expect from ASSP. IHMM is a member of ASSP and we are pleased to send all IHMM certificants and you may learn more here https://safetyfocus.assp.org/

Safety and Health This Week

• 9 Tips to Promote Safe + Sound at Virtual Conferences

• A Safety and Health Pledge for Managers

• New York City Council moves to improve building construction safety

• In face of misinformation, public health workers reiterate: COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and key to ending pandemic

• Operation Safe Driver Week set for July 11-17

• Current Builders Celebrates Construction Safety Week with Focus on Holistic Health for Workers

• Why Asbestos Still Threatens Construction Workers’ Health

• Is 5G Harmful to People?

• Your late night snacking may be hurting your work performance

• The Importance of Tepid Water Delivery in Emergency Safety Stations

• The Importance of Addressing Workplace Stress

Latest Safety Tips

• NYC City Hall Employees Offered Subway Buddies as Mayor Tries to Calm Safety Concerns

• 9 Workplace Safety Tips for Business

• Local health officials offer safety advice for teens working this summer

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

On January 25th, we began outlining the strategy to go after the 21 states in yellow, above. Since then we have succeeded in adding Nebraska, Colorado, and California.

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 Washington state group is finalizing a communication to state officials in conjunction with the MTCA regulatory process underway there. Well done Erik Berg, Jerome Fields and the people in Washington state.
• There are 21 states that recognize the CHMM for phase I and phase II site assessments, though the 45 in 5 group is also looking at Small Business Administration [SBA] rules for these assessments to determine what we may need to do to gain SBA recognition as well.

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, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico as the next places for us to work on with 44 volunteers.

The Task Force meets again in May.

Who Hires CSMPs?

IHMM credentials are known and highly regarded worldwide. Below is the evidence of just a few reasons why IHMM promotion of its credentials – all of them – matters to governments, employers, and the employees who work so hard to acquire our credentials and keep them up-to-date.

ENVIRONMENT & SAFETY RECENT UPDATES

• COVID-19’s Implications for OSHA and the NLRA

• U.S. Department of Labor to hold meeting to solicit public input
  on OSHA whistleblower program

• Seeing the Big Picture: Identify Hazards and Assess Risk

• OSHA Imposes New Guidance For Employer-Required COVID-19 Vaccines

• Oregon OSHA makes rules on masks, distancing permanent – until no longer needed

• OSHA Has Failed to Protect Food Workers. Can a New Director Keep Them Safe?

• Contractors cited over lack of fall protection

• Recent OSHA Update Targets Restaurant Industry

• Top 10 Construction Stories This Week: OSHA Enforcement Changes Coming Soon

• Proposed Revisions to OSHA Standard Go Far Beyond Alignment with the GHS

• Dollar Tree Receives Yet Another Six-Figure OSHA Citation

• Ethical Fashion Activists Continue Fighting for Garment Workers’ Safety

• Employers Should Prepare for New York’s Most Stringent Workplace Safety Law

• Workers at Times Square business say neighborhood isn’t the same, safety a concern

• Contractors accused of safety violations at Medford home-building site

• Pensions for local public safety employees are skyrocketing

• OSHA Prepares New Workforce Safety Standards for COVID-19

• NY Hero Act to bolster workplace safety

• Without Much Ado, Cal OSHA Updates Guidance Regarding Vaccinated Individuals

• 7 Site Hazards You Don’t Want to Overlook

• McCarthy Partnership for Women Promotes Opportunities for Women in Construction

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 11,701 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 – CINTAS Uniforms

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.

Save up to 65% off Cintas uniforms, safety and facility services.

Keep your team and workspace looking their best. New Cintas contracts enjoy special discounts and a free one-time UltraClean service and free installation of hygiene dispensers. Enroll with NPP today and save on Cintas!

Enroll your business for FREE with NPP to learn more about Cintas discounts. Enroll with NPP here: https://mynpp.com/association/hms/