IHMM Today August 11, 2020

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

IHMM Today is an online publication of the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (IHMM)

IHMM UPDATES

Kryterion Testing Center Updates

IHMM now has over 600 people in the process of taking one of its credential examinations, complicated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

To protect the health and safety of test candidates, proctors, and staff during the current COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, the owners of the testing centers listed in the spreadsheet (accessed via the link below) have decided to close temporarily – though 55% of onsite Kryterion centers are now currently open.

The spreadsheet will be updated daily and posted at the Kryterion website as other testing centers close. As test centers reopen, they will be removed from the spreadsheet. DOWNLOAD TODAY’S PDF OF KRYTERION TEST-CENTER CLOSURES

IHMM offers online live proctored exams via Kryterion. Kryterion’s online-proctoring (OLP) solution is not affected by COVID-19 and can be a suitable testing alternative to taking exams at a test center. The IHMM Candidate Handbook explains what you need to do if you choose to take the exam via remote online live proctored.  OLP test candidates can take their exams online at home or in their employer’s office. Kryterion’s OLP proctors monitor tests around the world seven days a week. 

IHMM Summer Update – by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM, IHMM Board Member

In June, the IHMM Board held its Second Quarter Board Meeting by teleconference.  Traditionally, the Second Quarter meeting is always by teleconference, but given the COVID-19 situation, this medium is especially useful. In order to reduce travel costs and for the protection of the Board and Staff, our third quarter meeting will probably also be by teleconference.

Like all organizations, IHMM has been challenged by COVID-19 and must adapt accordingly.  Thanks to significant investments in the Association Anywhere (“AA”) software about 4 years ago, and adjustments after a difficult start-up period, the IHMM Staff is able to operate remotely.  Most of the staff have been working from home since March.  Recertifications are being processed online at about the same pace as last year.  Back office operations continue on line.

Read more >> IHMM Summer Update

HMS Education and Training

Hazardous Materials Society now has 10,528 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.

This is the center of education and training for IHMM certificants and prospective certificants. Among these more than 10.000 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/

Low-cost measurement of facemask efficacy for filtering expelled droplets during speech

Mandates for mask use in public during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, worsened by global shortage of commercial supplies, have led to widespread use of homemade masks and mask alternatives. It is assumed that wearing such masks reduces the likelihood for an infected person to spread the disease, but many of these mask designs have not been tested in practice. We have demonstrated a simple optical measurement method to evaluate the efficacy of masks to reduce the transmission of respiratory droplets during regular speech. In proof-of-principle studies, we compared a variety of commonly available mask types and observed that some mask types approach the performance of standard surgical masks, while some mask alternatives, such as neck fleece or bandanas, offer very little protection. Our measurement setup is inexpensive and can be built and operated by non-experts, allowing for rapid evaluation of mask performance during speech, sneezing, or coughing.

Read more in Science Advances, August 7, 2020

What is the Hazardous Materials Society and why is it here?

Over the winter and spring of 2019, the IHMM Board of Directors decided to form the Hazardous Materials Society [HMS] to do four basic things in support of IHMM’s more than 9,000 certificants.

• Developing and delivering the highest quality education and training programs serving the hazardous materials | dangerous goods | environment | health & safety communities of practice by engaging the very best programs from around the nation and the world and presenting them in one platform
• Providing the strongest Networking platform in the nation, Higher Logic, that facilitates our communities of practice to be able to collaborate on their professional challenges as well as exchange information and ideas that benefit their future development
• Providing Conferences that provide opportunities for us to gather together around the nation and the world to learn together and enjoy each other’s perspectives on all of our professional challenges, and to enrich our experiences together.
• Providing Affinity programs that leverage our vast numbers and reach into incredible companies around the world to reduce the costs of many of the things we buy.

Between February and May of 2019, IHMM Executive Director Eugene Guilford and IHMM Treasurer Andrea Schuessler met with Bruce Donato and Chip Deale of AHMP to explain what IHMM was doing and why, and to enlist AHMP’s support. IHMM and AHMP issued a joint press release of support on April 9, 2019 that you can head here.

On December 9, 2019, IHMM Board Chair Richie Spangler and HMS Board Chair Robert West issued a joint press statement announcing the launch of the Hazardous Materials Society, that you can read here.

Every IHMM Today and EHS Professional sent since May 14, 2019, has had information in it about HMS – more than 60 individual e-newsletters – including this current edition of IHMM Today.

IHMM’s Board created the Hazardous Materials Society to serve the needs of IHMM certificants in the four areas listed above. Further, IHMM’s Board stated that IHMM’s certificants can access the services on the HMS site at no additional cost.

Any questions?  Please send questions or comments to IHMM’s Executive Director at [email protected].

See:  Hazardous Materials Society

HMS Affinity Programs

Hazardous Materials Society has a series of affinity programs designed to save you money and make your lives a bit easier. Check out

• HMS Homeowners | Renters | Auto Insurance Program https://hazmatsociety.org/insurance-program/

Start saving money today on your auto and home insurance! HMS has joined with NFP’s InsurChoice as a one-of-a-kind auto & home insurance program that offers multiple insurance discounts and provides HMS members with access to different personal insurance products. The program scans the marketplace shopping your auto & home insurance across more than 20 of the top-rated insurance carriers in the country. So not only are you getting the best coverage, you’re getting the best rates! Program participants saved an average of more than $600 per year. Click on InsurChoice graphic after the link above for a quote, the savings have just begun!

A Collaborative Culture

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. 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 collaborate here> https://community.ihmm.org/home

IHMM & HMS Coronavirus Resources

In February of 2020, the World Health Organization’s director-general has declared a public health emergency of international concern over the ongoing outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus. On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared a national emergency for the United States. IHMM and HMS’s first concern is with the safety and health of all of us; our staff and families, colleagues, certificants, and members. We will update this page regularly as credible, authoritative information is available. See: https://ihmm.org/coronavirus-resources/

Safe + Sound Week

The National Safety Council is hosting its first virtual Risk Assessment Workshop on Aug. 14 – during next week’s OSHA-led Safe + Sound Week. The COVID-19 pandemic means safety programs must expand, and assessing risks – both new and existing – is crucial.

With work-related injuries costing $170.8 billion in 2018, can your organization afford not to address its most pressing risks? Not all risks hold equal weight. The workshop will help you prioritize your efforts, diving into real-world examples to practice the techniques presented.

IHMM is a proud member of the NSC please see more information here.

• EPA Inspector General – EPA Toxic Substances Control Act Consent Orders Need Better Coordination

• Petition from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility to List Waste with PFAs

• A Russian Ship’s Cargo of Ammonium Nitrate Was Stranded in Beirut for Years

• FDA-Guidance Documents Related to COVID-19; Availability

• EPA’s New Asbestos Determination May Upend Decades of Science and Impact Litigation 

• Risk-based Evaluation of Onsite, Non-Potable Reuse Systems

• Senate Passes Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2019

• Council on Environmental Quality publishes final NEPA regulations

• SBA Announces Procedures for PPP Loan Forgiveness

• FMCSA Plans on New HOS Rules on September 29th

Beltway Buzz – Ogletree & Deakins

• FFCRA Rule Partially Invalidated. Several key provisions of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s implementing regulations were struck down this week by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Erik D. Mass and Burt D. Garland, Jr. have all the details about which provisions were struck down and what this all means for employers. Unfortunately, at this point, major questions about the decision—such as its applicable scope and whether the DOL will appeal—remain going forward.
• More Immigration News. In addition to the federal contractor EO, there were some other immigration policy developments this week.
  • First, the DHS issued a final rule that increases immigration fees that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services imposes by an average of 20 percent. Andrea C. Davis has more.
  • Second, despite the efforts of a bipartisan group of senators, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 failed to pass via a unanimous consent motion in the U.S. Senate this week. The bill, which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2019, would eliminate the per-country caps for employment-based immigrants

• OFCCP Audit News. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced this week that it will be starting Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) focused reviews. To assist federal contractors, OFCCP has created a VEVRAA focused review website that contains frequently asked questions and best practices. Christopher J. Near has the details.

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