IHMM Today May 31, 2022

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Who Hires IHMM Certified Safety and Health Managers?

This is a small sample of the companies that hire CSHMs

Beltway Buzz – Ogletree & Deakins

Contractor Watchdog Releases Audit List. Late last week, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released its new Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) for federal contractors. According to OFCCP, the CSAL is “a courtesy notification to contractors selected to undergo a compliance evaluation.” Reflecting recent comments made by both Secretary of Labor Martin Walsh and OFCCP Director Jenny Yang, the list targets for investigation “a large proportion of industries expected to receive significant federal investments for infrastructure and economic recovery.” Significantly, pursuant to Directive 2022-02, OFCCP will no longer provide contractors with a 45-day grace period prior to scheduling reviews. Instead, OFCCP may begin scheduling reviews immediately following issuance of the CSAL.

House Committee Examines OSHA Policies. On May 25, 2022, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor’s Workforce Protections Subcommittee heard testimony from Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker on the workplace safety agency’s policies and fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request. Below are some key takeaways from the hearing.

• COVID-19. At least one Democrat needled the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for not doing more to combat COVID-19 by issuing a more timely and expansive emergency temporary standard, while Republicans criticized OSHA’s vaccine-or-test emergency temporary standard as an overreach that threatened to topple an uneasy economy. In response, Parker stated, “We don’t have any plans to move forward with a vaccine and testing rule,” but the agency believes it is important to have a permanent healthcare standard in place by the fall.
• Infectious disease. In his written testimony, Parker wrote that OSHA is “looking ahead to ensure workers in the highest-risk workplaces are protected against future infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics. Those efforts include developing an infectious disease standard to ensure health care workers are protected in future pandemics and developing infectious disease preparedness training so all workplaces can be more prepared.”
• Heat standard. In response to a question about the timing of a potential heat standard, Parker responded that it would be “challenging” to promulgate such a standard by the spring of 2024.
• Workplace violence. Parker’s written testimony noted that OSHA was “also advancing a standard to protect health care workers from the epidemic of workplace violence.” During the hearing, Parker stated that the agency plans on convening Small Business Advocacy Review Panels this fall, but that there is no timeline regarding issuance of a proposed rule on the topic.
• Construction industry in the spotlight. Parker’s written testimony stated, “In light of increased infrastructure activity and investment spurred by passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, OSHA is continuing to focus on construction sites. Since the beginning of the Biden Administration, OSHA has conducted approximately 17,000 construction inspections and issued approximately $138 million in penalties.”
• Enforcement. Regarding enforcement, Parker wrote, “OSHA is increasing its inspection and enforcement activity from recent lows. We are bringing more cases with enhanced penalties where it is warranted by employer conduct. And we will continue to evaluate how we can use all the tools available to us, including criminal and other enhanced judicial relief, for those employers who disregard safety and put workers at risk.”

OSHA Extends Reg. Proposals’ Comment Periods. Speaking of OSHA standards, this week the workplace safety agency extended the comment periods for two current proposals:

• Injury and illness reporting. Comments on OSHA’s proposal to require covered employers to electronically submit workplace injury and illness data to OSHA were originally due by May 31, 2022. This week, OSHA announced that, as a result of a request by the AFL-CIO, the deadline would be extended by 30 days, to June 30, 2022. According to OSHA’s announcement, “The AFL-CIO’s request explains that the agency has multiple deadlines within a one-week period, and the AFL-CIO wishes to have time to meaningfully respond to the important issues in both this notice and the several other requests for comment by OSHA.”
• Arizona state plan. OSHA also extended the comment deadline on its proposal to revoke its approval of Arizona’s occupational safety and health plan. On April 20, 2022, OSHA announced that it “has grown increasingly concerned that actions by the Arizona State OSHA Plan suggest the state is either unable or unwilling to maintain its commitment to provide a program for worker safety and health protection as the [Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970] requires.” Comments were due by May 26, 2022, but will now be due by July 5, 2022.

EEOC Nominee Stalled … for Now. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions deadlocked 11–11 on a vote to approve President Biden’s first nominee to be a member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Kalpana Kotagal. The tie vote means that the U.S. Senate will have to vote as a whole to advance Kotagal’s nomination out of committee. If confirmed, Kotagal will presumably be appointed and sworn in to replace Commissioner Janet Dhillon as soon as her term expires on July 1, 2022.

Notice of Public Meetings in 2022 for International Standards on the Transport of Dangerous Goods

The PHMSA Office of Hazardous Material Safety (OHMS) will host public meetings in advance of three international meetings to allow the public to give input on current proposals being considered by the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCOE TDG) and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Dangerous Goods Panel (DGP). These international meetings include:

1. The 60th session of the UNSCOE TDG, scheduled for June 27 to July 6, 2022, in Geneva, Switzerland.
2. The ICAO DGP Working Group 22, tentatively scheduled for November 21–25, in Montreal, Canada.
3. The 61st session of the UNSCOE TDG, scheduled for November 28 to December 6, 2022, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Each of these public meetings will be held approximately two weeks before the corresponding international meeting. Specific information for each meeting, including date, time, conference call-in number, and details for advance registration will be posted when available on the PHMSA website under “Upcoming Events.” These meetings will be virtual, with concurrent in-person sessions possible, pending public health guidelines.

The Federal Register announcement can be found here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-03-03/pdf/2022-04435.pdf utm_source=federalregister.gov&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=subscription+mailing+list

FEDERAL CREDENTIAL RECOGNITION – CALL TO ACTION – Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act

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 to include most expenses paid by the holders of private professional certifications. We need you to contact your House and Senate members to ask them to co-sponsor this legislation.

CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE

You can support this effort with your voice and message. Go here>  https://ihmm.org/45-in-5-task-force/  and fill out your contact information where provided and help to pass H.R. 2171/S. 905.

IHMM/HMS Coronavirus Resources

A Collaborative Culture

There are 709 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]

Columbia Southern University

The Hazardous Materials Society [HMS] is a partner of Columbia Southern University. Columbia Southern University is an online university based in Orange Beach, Alabama, that strives to change and improve lives through higher education by enabling students to maximize their professional and personal potential.

A subsidiary of Columbia Southern Education Group, CSU offers online degree programs at the associate, bachelor, master, doctorate or certificate levels in a multitude of areas such as occupational safety and health, fire administration, criminal justice, business administration, human resource management, health care administration and more. CSU also features undergraduate and graduate certificate programs to provide focused training in specialized areas for adult learners.

Click on the CSU graphic at left and learn more about the professional development and degree program opportunities at CSU.

IHMM CONFERENCES FOR 2022

IHMM will attend and support a number of conferences and trade shows throughout 2022, virtually as well as in-person as COVID issues allow. Below are some of the conferences IHMM will support in 2022.

Are there conferences you believe IHMM should attend that do not appear here? If so, let us know by sending an email to [email protected]

VENDOR ALERT

IHMM had a record number of applications in 2021 – 704.  In 2021 IHMM delivered the largest number of examinations since 2016 – 477.  IHMM has 975 students in the pipeline moving through applications and examinations. IHMM has 358 students taking examinations right now. IHMM has another 546 students headed to take examinations.

Are you seeing this business as a vendor of education and training services?

Contact IHMM Executive Director Eugene A. Guilford, Jr., CAE, at [email protected]

HMS EVENTS CALENDAR