EHS Professional – February 9, 2023

Marshall University Joins IHMM ASHM Program

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

What Do Employee Benefits Plans Look Like in 2023

A new IBI study finds that the pandemic was the push needed for leaders at many companies to approve benefits that might have stalled in the past.

Employee benefits and programs changed very quickly in reaction to the pandemic. Benefits were added that specifically addressed the current needs. Now two years after the start of the pandemic, companies are again adjusting benefit plans.

IBI (Integrated Benefits Institute) recently released a report “Benefit Design and Workplace Policy” after surveying employers in the U.S. to see what the benefits landscape looks like today.

In reaction to the pandemic 40% of the companies made changes to their benefits plans. Click the link for a comparison, from the survey of some benefits that were added and current benefits that were taken away.

Read more byclicking here.

Three Contractors Cited Following Worker Death After 12-Foot Fall

Each contractor faces at least one serious citation.

Three contractors are facing citations after an incident that led to the death of a 31-year-old employee.

In August 2022, the employee, working for Big Hammer LLC, died at the hospital after falling 12 feet and becoming injured, according to a news release. OSHA cited three contractors after the incident: Mad Dog Design and Construction Company Inc., the primary contractor, and Forgotten Coast Crane Service Inc. and Big Hammer, both subcontractors.

Mad Dog Design and Construction Company was issued a serious violation and $6,250 in proposed penalties because workers did not have fall protection systems while “on the top plates of the walls and rood truss components,” the agency said.

Forgotten Coast Crane Service’s two serious violations were issued because custom-made hooks were not proof-tested and communication stopped between the crane operator and hand signal person, per the citations. In total, the company now faces proposed penalties of $8,037.

OSHA cited Big Hammer for violations for a lack of fall protection systems, incorrectly “stored, handled and installed” trusses and “allow[ing] unqualified employees to perform hand signal activities for crane operations,” per the agency, which proposed $25,001 in penalties.

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/02/07/three-contractors-cited.aspx?admgarea=news

(Corrected) Danger in Stock: Department of Labor Finds Columbus, Ohio, Dollar Tree Store Endangering Workers; As Company’s History of Violations Continues

OSHA issues $294K in penalties for exposing 10 employees to safety hazards

A complaint of unsafe work conditions brought federal safety inspectors to a Columbus, Ohio, Dollar Tree store where their findings – employees exposed fire hazards and in danger of unsafely stored and stacked boxes of merchandise falling on them – mirror those violations identified at many other U.S. locations operated by one of the nation’s largest discount retailers.

As of January 2023, there are 70 inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration open at 70 Dollar Tree Inc. locations nationwide. The violations found in Columbus in August 2022 continue the company’s lengthy history of workplace safety failures. Since 2017, federal and state OSHA programs have identified more than 300 violations in more than 500 inspections at the company’s Dollar Tree and Family Dollar locations.

In many instances, OSHA inspectors typically discover exit routes, fire extinguishers and electrical panels dangerously obstructed or blocked; unsafe walking-working areas; and merchandise stacked unsafely at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20230201

Four Steps to Stay Safe and Operational During the Winter

In preparing for a major winter storm, the key areas to focus on are human safety, facility limitations, and transportation and utility restrictions.

The impacts from cold weather events will vary greatly depending on where your business is located and how frequently you experience below-freezing temperatures. But whether you begin to see negative effects at 32°F or 10°F, extreme temperatures create operational difficulties, safety concerns and financial losses for businesses in the cold season.

Winter weather can also present difficulties in forecasting, not only because episodes of cold temperatures can cover large areas, but also because precipitation, and the form it takes, is very sensitive. Precipitation can take the form of rain, sleet, freezing rain or snow, and the conditions in which these form can create dangerous ice. All of these are dependent on temperature, which itself can fluctuate depending on the level of cloud cover, speed or direction of wind and humidity in the atmosphere.

This volatility in precipitation contributes to the uncertainty surrounding an upcoming cold front, making it hard to get advanced forecasts of the kind of precipitation to expect. Even though a major cold event can be identified seven to 10 days in advance, it’s not until one or two days before impact that the track, timing and strength of the cold front can be confirmed.

Every year, in anticipation of an upcoming cold season, businesses should develop a Winter Weather Response Plan that outlines what areas of a business are at risk from individual weather elements. Read more for four steps to prepare for, and safely mitigate, the operational impacts of severe winter events.

Read more by clicking here.

How To Manage the Health and Safety of Your Remote Workers

Policies, support services and trust are just a few ways to support remote workers.

As more and more businesses move to remote work, employers must ensure their remote workers remain safe and healthy. This can be a daunting task for any business owner or manager, but with the right strategies in place, you can easily manage your remote staff’s health and safety.

In this article, we will discuss key strategies managers should consider when managing the health and safety of their remote employees. We’ll look at how to create policies, provide support services, set up effective communication channels, develop trust between team members, and use technology to monitor employee well-being.

By taking all of these steps into consideration when creating a plan to keep your remote workers safe and healthy, you can rest assured knowing that your team is taken care of no matter where they are working.

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/02/06/health-and-safety-of-your-remote-workers.aspx?admgarea=news

Trucker access to parking and rest facilities part of supply chain bill

Measures for expanded access to parking and rest facilities are included in recently proposed bipartisan legislation aimed at revamping the interstate trucking supply chain system.

Introduced Jan. 24 by Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Jim Costa (D-CA), the Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking Act (H.R. 471) would permit the transportation secretary to issue grants for projects that provide truck parking. Those grants would total $175 million in fiscal year 2023 and a combined $580 million over the next three fiscal years.

In step with a Senate bill (S. 5169) introduced in the previous Congress, entities eligible for grants would be:

• States
• Metropolitan planning organizations
• Local governments
• Agencies of states or local governments “carrying out responsibilities relating to commercial motor vehicle parking”
• Tribal governments or a consortium of tribal governments
• Multistate or multijurisdictional groups

Grantees would be permitted to partner with private entities “to carry out an eligible project.” Projects may include those that:

• Build rest areas that include truck parking.
• Open existing weigh stations, rest areas and park-and-ride facilities to truck parking

Further, the legislation would require the transportation secretary to consult with state departments of transportation, private providers of truck parking, and other bodies to prepare a report that “evaluates the availability of adequate parking and rest facilities” for trucks in interstate transportation and updates the progress on providing such spaces.

In a press release, the Shippers Coalition praises the legislation for “lessening burdens on truck drivers.”

A lack of safe places for truckers to park ranked third on the American Transportation Research Institute’s list of top trucking industry concerns, released in October.

Read the original article here > https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/23530-trucker-access-to-parking-and-rest-facilities-part-of-supply-chain-bill

Coastal Maine Gourmet Market Pays $51K to Resolve ‘Preventable’ wage, Child Labor Violations After Department of Labor Investigation

Managers shared in tip pool; minors worked excess hours, with dangerous equipment

A federal investigation recovered $36,106 in back wages and liquidated damages from a Cape Elizabeth, Maine, café, bakery and market for 86 employees after finding the employer denied some workers their full wages and allowed minor-aged workers to perform hazardous jobs and work more hours than allowed by law.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found C Salt Gourmet Market LLC improperly included managers in the employees’ tip pool and did not pay two workers proper overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. An employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools. This prohibition applies even if tipped workers are paid hourly at rates equal to or above the full minimum wage.

Investigators also found the employer permitted 10 workers, ages 14- and 15-years-old, to work hours in excess of the federal legal limits. The employer also allowed three 14- and 15-year-olds to use an oven and a 15-year-old to use a deep-fat fryer not equipped with devices to automatically raise and lower the fry baskets, which are violations of child labor occupations standards. In addition, three 14- and 15-year-olds cleaned and operated a power-driven meat slicer – activity prohibited for workers under age 18 by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s Hazardous Occupation orders.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230206-2

The Dangers of the Cold: Different Types of Cold-Related Illnesses

As workers are exposed to the cold, they can be at risk for cold-related illnesses.

Although this past December was warmer than many other Decembers, winter is not over yet.

Many states across the country may still encounter cold temperatures throughout the next two months. Employers and employees exposed to cold conditions will need to take extra caution to protect themselves from cold-related illnesses. Read more for just a few to know about and prepare for, according to OSHA and The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/01/31/the-dangers-of-the-cold.aspx?admgarea=news

Regulatory Update: Dollar Store Safety Fines Hit $15 Million

In the past 11 months, OSHA inspections at 19 stores in Alabama, Florida and Georgia have identified dozens of similar violations.

Safety violations keep racking up for Dollar General Corp.

Based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC operate about 18,000 stores and 17 distribution centers in 47 states and employ more than 150,000 workers.

Just weeks after being cited with federal safety violations, the company has been charged with exposing workers to unsafe conditions, at two store locations in Florida and another in Alabama.

On June 26, 2022, OSHA inspectors found stores in Middleburg and Green Cove Springs, Florida, had merchandise blocking exit routes, exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards. OSHA issued citations for two repeat violations, with $196,438 in proposed penalties.

Less than a month later – on July 13, 2022 – OSHA inspectors again found merchandise blocking exit routes at a Dollar General store, this time in Double Springs, Alabama. They found the company allowed boxes and merchandise to be stockpiled in an unstable manner, exposing workers to struck-by hazards. OSHA issued citations for two repeat violations, with $205,117 in proposed penalties.

Read more by clicking here.

‘Apprentices Are Safer,’ Study of  Workers’ Comp Claims Finds

Apprenticeship programs can help reduce on-the-job injuries, according to the results of a study from a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries research program.

Researchers with the Washington state Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention Program (SHARP) analyzed registered apprenticeship data from the state with that of workers’ compensation claims of more than 4,000 journey-level plumbers.

Findings show that from 2000 to 2018, claim rates were 31% lower for the plumbers who completed apprenticeship training.

Among the claims of individuals who completed apprenticeship programs, 1.7% involved 31-100 lost workdays. That’s compared with 2.7% of the claims of those with some apprenticeship participation and 4.6% of those with none.

In a press release, lead study author and SHARP epidemiologist Sara Wuellner noted that although the study spotlights plumbers, various elements of apprenticeship translate across industries. These include on-the-job training, mentorship and classroom instruction.

Read more > https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/23525-apprentices-are-safer-study-of-workers-comp-claims-finds

Ways Employers Can Help Stressed Employees

With many employees reporting stress, employers need to know how they can help.

Stress is an unfortunately-all-too-common emotion for many people. Daily life and responsibilities carry their own stresses, but so can work.

In 2021, according to Gallup, workplace stress across the world rose to the highest it’s been in 12 years. Over two in five respondents (44 percent) said they were stressed “a lot of the day yesterday.” In the U.S., that number was 50 percent. In a report from StrongArm Technologies, 47 percent of respondents, who worked in the construction, manufacturing and warehouse and transport industries, said they were “stressed at their current jobs.”

Is there a role that employers can play to help with employee stress? The answer is a simple yes. Organizations and agencies like the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and OSHA provide multiple resources and tips to help employers do just this.

Read more > https://ohsonline.com/articles/2023/02/03/ways-employers-can-help-stressed-employees.aspx?admgarea=news

Deadly Mix: Federal Workplace Safety Investigations Find Severe Injuries, Fatality Caused By Steam Explosions at 2 Ohio Companies

With proper training, people working in metal casting facilities know that mixing water and molten material can be a serious, if not deadly mistake, as tragic incidents at two Ohio companies in 2022 showed.

On July 10, the combination of water with tons of superheated material spilling onto a foundry floor caused a steam explosion that severely injured a supervisor at Globe Metallurgical in Waterford. Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the company failed to use required containment measures and did not provide workers responding to the spill with personal protective equipment.

OSHA learned employees were pouring molten material into a large ladle for cast forms when the material burned through the bottom of the ladle and about 8,000 pounds of molten material – heated to nearly 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit – spilled. Employees responded by spraying water on the spill and using a forklift to try to break up the material when an explosion occurred, which caused the supervisor to suffer third-degree burns.

The agency issued a citation to Globe Metallurgical Inc., one of the nation’s largest ferroalloy manufacturers, for one willful violation of the general duty clause for its failure to provide a safe working environment, and three serious safety violations. Inspectors identified the company’s failure to develop containment measures for molten materials, its lack of adequate personal protective equipment and its failure to train workers on its use. OSHA has proposed penalties of $188,533.

Read more > https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20230125-0

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.

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.

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

ASSP News

• Episode 100: Assessing and Reducing the Amount of Waste Coming from Your Work Site

• A WISE Mentoring Success Story: Michelle Arias

• Disproportionate Impacts of Work

• Q&A: What OSH Professionals Need to Know About DEI and Workplace Safety

• SafetyFOCUS Can Fulfill a New Year’s Resolution

• NIOSH Challenge Aims to Improve Respirator Fit Testing

• Episode 98: OSHA Recordkeeping: What Safety Professionals and Employers Need to Know

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 841 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]