EHS Professional – February 23, 2023

IHMM Initiates New York State Rulemaking

For the past several months we have been working with Anthony Dell’Isola, CSHM, in New York to encourage his State Senator Andrew Gounardes to assist us with amending NY DOL regulation 12 CRR-NY 59-1.12 to include the CSHM and CSMP as acceptable certifications for workplace safety and loss prevention consultants.

I am attaching IHMM’s letter to the NYS DOL, Senator Gounardes’ letter to the NYS DOL, and IHMM’s proposed amendment including the CSHM and CSMP in 12 CRR-NY 59-1.12

We need every CSHM and CSMP in New York to contact their State Senator and State Representative and ask them to join Senator Andrew Gounardes and IHMM in initiating this rule change.

Credential recognition is important to IHMM and we know it is important to you. With everyone involved and pushing this as hard as we can we can achieve this recognition.

• IHMM Amendment
• IHMM and NYS DOL
• Senator Gounardes Letter

Read the original article by clicking here.

US Department of Labor reminds certain employers to submit required 2022 injury and illness data by March 2, 2023

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reminding employers that the agency is collecting calendar year 2022 Form 300A data. Employers must submit the form electronically by March 2, 2023.

Establishments under Federal OSHA jurisdiction can use the ITA Coverage Application to determine if they are required to electronically report their injury and illness information to OSHA. Establishments under State Plan jurisdiction should contact their State Plan.

Employers must connect their Injury Tracking Account to a Login.gov account to submit their 2022 workplace injury and illness data. Watch the video to learn how.

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

Is Time Running Out on Workplace Safety?

Safer workplaces seem to be more of a mirage than a reality.

How safe is the workplace these days? We don’t really know, since given the nature of the federal government’s data-crunching capabilities, it’ll take another year for us to get the statistics on workplace incidents in 2022. But we do finally know how safe the workplace was at U.S.-based employers in 2021, but there’s not much good news in the numbers:

• Nonfatal injuries and illnesses were down in 2021 by 1.8% over 2020.
• Fatal work injuries were up by 8.9% year-over-year.
• The impact of COVID-19 on the workplace in 2020-2021 was significant but exactly how significant is not yet known.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 5,190 people died on the job in 2021, compared to 4,764 in 2020. Also, while total workplace injuries and illnesses dropped somewhat year-over-year, the number of injuries actually increased by 6.3% (2.2 million injury cases in 2021 vs. 2.1 million in 2020). Offsetting the increase in injuries is that illnesses—in particular, respiratory illnesses—dropped by 32.9%.

Read more by clicking here.

Could a Four-Day Workweek Impact Workers’ Health? A New Report Offers Insight

Employees who participated in the trial reported decreased stress, fatigue and levels of burnout and increased physical and mental health.

A new report suggests that a four-day workweek may have some benefits for workers’ health.

From June to December 2022, 61 companies in the UK participated in a trial where employees’ work time was reduced by 20 percent but pay and work were kept the same.

Of the approximately 2,900 employees in the trial, nearly three in four (71 percent) saw decreased levels of burnout, according to the report from 4 Day Week Global. Employees also reported decreased stress (39 percent), negative emotions (54 percent), fatigue (46 percent) and sleep difficulties (40 percent) as well.

Moreover, physical health improved for more than one in three employees (37 percent), and mental health improved for more than two in five employees (43 percent).

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/02/22/could-a-four-day-workweek.aspx?admgarea=news

US Department of Labor Finds McDonald’s Franchise Operator Violated Child Labor Hours, Safety Regulations at Seven Locatons in Erie, Warren

DuCharme Organization pays $92K penalty to resolve violations, affecting 154 workers

A federal investigation has found the franchise operator of seven McDonald’s locations in Erie and Warren illegally allowed 154 minors, ages 14- and 15-years-old, to work at times not permitted by child labor laws and for more hours per week than allowed. The employer also assigned nine workers under age 16 to operate deep fryers in violation of federal law.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators determined that the Erie-based DuCharme Organization – operating as TBLN LLC – violated the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DuCharme Organization and owner Thomas DuCharme Jr. paid $92,107 in civil money penalties for the violations.

Specifically, the division found the employer permitted the minors to work illegally as follows:

• Before 7 a.m., more than 3 hours per day and after 7 p.m. on school days.
• Later than 9 p.m. on days between June 1 and Labor Day, when they may legally work until 9 p.m.
• More than 8 hours on a non-school day, and more than 18 hours a week during a regular school week.

Investigators also learned nine minors under the age of 16 were allowed to operate deep fryers at two of the employers’ locations in violation of federal regulations for occupational standards for 14- and 15-year-olds. Workers under the age of 16 are prohibited from using manual deep fryers not equipped with automatic fry baskets that move food into and out of cooking oil or grease.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230222-2

Keeping Temporary Workers Safe

It has long been a challenge to protect workers from injury and harm. That’s especially true for temporary and contract employees, who often perform the least desirable work—and have the least amount of training.

Nearly everything you encounter in your day-to-day life is touched by temporary workers: from the TV you watch to the tires on your car to the bed you sleep in every night.

Temporary workers do it all. They move your packages around large distribution centers and sometimes deliver them to your door. But what’s the cost for the use of this temporary labor workforce, and how did we get here in the first place?

The Rise of Temporary Workers

America’s staffing companies hire 16 million temporary and contract employees per year, according to the American Staffing Association (ASA). Because of the massive labor shortages due to the ongoing ripple effects of COVID-19, the temporary worker industry is engaged and more highly utilized than ever before.

Temporary staffing has seen a major expansion in the employment landscape—and it’s a trend that’s here to stay. In the 1970s, it was characterized by administrative work. These days, while temporary work may include administrative positions, the reality is that many temporary workers perform light and heavy industrial labor.

Read more by clicking here.

Watch Your Step: Protecting Workers from Falling into Holes

What measures should employers and workers take to stay safe around holes?

It only takes a single step for a worker’s life to change.

In many industries, there may be holes in a working surface that pose a risk to employees. At a worksite in Illinois, an electrician sustained fatal injuries when they fell through a hole in December 2021. According to OSHA, the 50-year-old electrician and general foreman were simply “evaluat[ing] the proposed work” when the incident happened.

In this article, we’re going to look at ways to protect workers from falling into holes. But before we do that, if you’re wondering what’s classified as a hole, here’s OSHA’s definition: “A gap or void 2 inches (5.1 cm) or more in its least dimension, in a floor, roof, or other walking/working surface.”

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/02/21/protecting-workers-from-falling-into-holes.aspx?admgarea=news

OSHA Emphasis Program Targets the Auto Parts Supplier Industry

Hazards in the auto parts supplier industry “continue to be the source of serious injuries, including amputations, and deaths to employees,” OSHA says.

In response, a new Regional Emphasis Program has been in effect since Feb. 5. It applies to employers within the jurisdiction of five OSHA area offices across three states: Atlanta East; Atlanta West; Birmingham, AL; Mobile, AL; and Jackson, MS.

According to OSHA, the industry’s most common causes of injury are lockout/tagout, machine guarding and electrical hazards. Citing 2021 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency notes that the auto parts supplier industry has a higher injury and illness rate (3.3 per 100 full-time workers) than overall private industry (2.7).

In addition, a review of OSHA data from October 2013 through September shows that, out of 299 industry inspections in Region 4, 216 had some form of noncompliance. Of those, more than 87.5% resulted in serious, repeat and willful violations.

Inspection activity will begin 30 days after outreach and notification letters have been sent “to give employers the opportunity to contact consultation services for an onsite visit.”

Find the original article by clicking here.

Labor Department Fines Pizza Restaurants $30k For Child Labor Violations, Recovers $12k For Two Managers Illegally Denied Overtime Wages

Mio’s Pizza in Cincinnati, Milford allows minors to operate dangerous equipment

A federal investigation of the employment practices of the operators of two Cincinnati-area pizza restaurants has identified numerous violations of child labor, overtime and recordkeeping regulations.

In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigated Mio’s Pizza locations in Cincinnati and Milford, and found owners Dan and Leslie Igo violated several provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

At the Cincinnati location – operated by Stuff It LCC – division investigators found the following:

• 12 minors, under the age of 16, illegally allowed to use manual fryers, operate gas ovens with an open flame, move pizza in and out of a broiler/conveyor oven, and use a mechanical dough puller and sheeter. These activities violate federal hazardous orders that forbid young workers from performing cooking and baking operations.
• 16 minors assigned to work in violation of hours worked standards.
• One manager denied required overtime wages because the employer paid them a weekly salary of $584 and improperly claimed they were a salaried manager and exempt from overtime. By law, employers may only claim an exemption from overtime for managers when they meet several duties tests and are paid weekly salaries of more than $684 a week.

At the Milford location – then operated by Black Cat Pizzeria Inc. – investigators identified the following:

• Nine minors, under age 16, also performing the same hazardous cooking and baking operations.
• 20 minors working in violation of federal limits for work hours.
• One manager owed back wages because the employer claimed the same incorrect overtime exemption for managers.

The violations occurred before the Igos sold the Milford location in late 2022 to new owners.

After its investigations, the division recovered $11,950 in back overtime wages and damages. The department also assessed $30,000 in civil money penalties due to the nature of the employers’ violations. The violations also included the failure to keep accurate records.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230222

Why You Should Use Videos for Safety Training

This technology can provide more benefits than lectures and other traditional models.

Safety training is a crucial aspect of any workplace, as it helps ensure the well-being of employees and the overall success of a business. However, traditional methods of safety training, such as lectures and written materials, can be dry and disengaging. This is where videos come in. Video-based safety training has become increasingly popular in recent years, as it offers a more interactive and dynamic way to educate employees on workplace safety. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of using videos for safety training and provide insights into creating effective video-based safety training programs.

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/02/16/videos-for-safety-training.aspx?admgarea=news

Construction Workforce Shortage Tops Half a Million in 2023

In 2022, there were more than 390,000 job openings per month, the highest level on record.

Like every other industry, worker shortages are an issue in the construction industry.

A recent model developed by Associated Builders and Contractors found that the industry will need to attract an estimated 546,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2023 to meet the demand for labor.

“The construction industry must recruit hundreds of thousands of qualified, skilled construction professionals each year to build the places where we live, work, play, worship, learn and heal,” said Michael Bellaman, ABC president and CEO, in a statement. “As the demand for construction services remains high, filling these roles with skilled craft professionals is vital to America’s economy and infrastructure rebuilding initiatives.”

Read more by clicking here.

New Safety Video Shows Dangers of Having Passengers on Forklifts

The animation, produced by the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia, details an incident in which a young worker at a rebar manufacturing facility was seriously injured after falling off a forklift while riding on the side of the equipment. He was run over by the forklift.

“Riding as a passenger on a forklift is prohibited in most cases,” WorkSafe BC says. “It can expose workers to dangers such as falling off, being struck by objects, or being crushed between the forklift and another object.”

The video also points out that:

• The employer didn’t have a joint health and safety committee for the worksite, as required.
• The forklift manufacturer’s instructions, which stated that passengers shouldn’t ride outside the cab, weren’t followed.
• The employer didn’t ensure the worker received appropriate training on operating a forklift.
• The employer failed to provide additional required training to the worker when he became a forklift assistant.

In the United States, Section (m)(3) of OSHA’s standard on powered industrial trucks (1910.178) states that “unauthorized personnel shall not be permitted to ride on powered industrial trucks. A safe place to ride shall be provided where riding of trucks is authorized.”

OSHA requires forklift training programs to include formal instruction, practical training and a workplace performance evaluation.

Read the original article by clicking here.

OSHA Cites Pennsylvania Employer After 17-Year-Old Employee Suffers Fatal Injuries

The citations include violations for not having PPE and not training employees on certain machine usage.

Following the death of an employee, an employer in Pennsylvania is facing citations for violations relating to not training employees on wood chipper use and not having someone trained in first aid.

In August 2022, a 17-year employee working for Adam Atiyeh, operator of Adam’s Tree Service and Adam’s Tree Removal and Trimming, was fatally injured after a wood chipper pulled them in, according to a news release. The employee had been putting entangled material in the wood chipper at a site in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, when they were injured.

Federal child labor laws do not allow anyone under the age of 18 to use a wood chipper. OSHA said the employer allowed three workers, all minors, to use the machinery.

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/02/14/osha-cites-pennsylvania-employer.aspx?admgarea=news

Court Orders Illinois Home Healthcare Provider to Pay $1.1M in Back Wages, Damages to 69 Employees, After US Department of Labor Investigation

Judgment affirms that healthcare provider is subject to wage laws despite claims

The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order requiring an Illinois home healthcare provider to pay 69 workers $1.1 million in back wages and damages for its failure to pay these workers for all hours worked.

On Feb. 7, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Colin Bruce for the Central District of Illinois in Urbana issued an order finding Lee A. McDevitt – owner and operator of Midwest Home Care in Mattoon – liable for back wages and damages. The court dismissed McDevitt’s claim that they were not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act because they operated solely within Illinois. The court also found the department could protect the identities of employees who cooperated with the investigator and litigation.

The court’s action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found McDevitt paid a daily rate to workers employed as caregivers, the majority of whom worked 24-hour shifts, regardless of the number of hours they worked, resulting in minimum wage and overtime violations. The caregivers provided in-home healthcare and assisted living services to clients across Mattoon, Champaign and Tuscola.

The investigation determined that the employer owed the affected workers $562,389 in back wages and assessed an equal amount of liquidated damages.

The court also ruled McDevitt violated the FLSA’s recordkeeping requirements by failing to track an employee’s hours worked, including sleep time interruptions, accurately. By failing to do so, Midwest Home Care’s sleep credit was invalid. The court also forbid McDevitt from future FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping violations.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230221-1

2023 IHMM Certificant Survey

This is our 2023 IHMM certificant survey. Your feedback allows us to gather broad based information about the needs and preferences of our certificants that leads to improving our services and credentials.

Please take a few minutes and answer the 19 questions posed in this survey and help us improve our services.

Take the short survey here.

Top 4 Projects in February, 2023

• NY Department of Labor rulemaking concerning the recognition of the CSHM and CSMP

• Work with Eric Vega in Puerto Rico concerning credential recognition

• Review of the Governor of Nevada’s Executive Order concerning licensing boards and potential for recognition of the CHMM

• Scheduling meetings with the Maryland Congressional delegation concerning the Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] credential

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.

Registration Open – June 5-7, San Antonio

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 868 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]