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Environmental Health and Safety Blog | EHSWire

Does DOT/IATA Training for Transportation of Hazardous Materials Prevent Incidents?

Posted by Shivi Kakar

Feb 14, 2011 3:11:26 AM

Capt. John DeFillippo, CHMP, EMT-B

“Every day there are more than 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials (hazmat) in trucks-usually flammable liquids, such as gasoline, or flammable gas. About 200 hazmat trucks a year are involved in fatal crashes and 5,000 in nonfatal crashes. Although these numbers are small relative to the totals of almost 5,000 trucks involved in fatal crashes and 400,000 involved in nonfatal crashes annually, the potential for human injury and property damage in hazmat crashes is much greater.”

Ralph Craft, Ph.D.
Analysis Division, Office of Information Management, US Department of Transportation

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Topics: Emilcott, DOT, General Industry H&S, General EHS, H&S Training, Hazardous Waste Management, HazCom, Hazardous Materials, Compliance, Occupational Safety, regulation, Hazard Communication Standard, Public Safety, Lab Safety

OSHA Recordkeeping 300A…It’s For You and the Rest of the Country!

Posted by Shivi Kakar

Jan 31, 2011 1:59:49 AM

Paula Kaufmann, CIH

Did you know that the OSHA Illness and Injury Summary Log, 300A, is used for more than just recordkeeping at your site?  By documenting your company’s illness and injuries properly, you shape OSHA’s future initiatives!  Specifically, OSHA Summary 300A Forms are gathered by the OSHA Data Initiative (ODI) to help direct OSHA programs and measure its own performance.  

How does OSHA get this information?

OSHA gets these data from two sources:

  • As part of an annual survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sends injury and illness survey forms to randomly selected employers and uses the information to create the Nation's occupational injury and illness statistics.

  • The OSHA Data Initiative mails its annual survey (in June) that collects data on injuries and acute illnesses attributable to work-related activities in private-sector industries from approximately 80,000 establishments in selected high hazard industries. In 2010, OSHA also collected this information from approximately 20,000 establishments in the construction industry in addition to the non-construction establishments. The Agency uses these data to calculate establishment-specific injury/illness rates, and in combination with other data sources, to target enforcement and compliance assistance activities. Traditionally, OSHA collects data from the establishments that meet the following categories, but as we saw in 2010, OSHA can expand these criteria.

    • Non-construction industries with 40 or more employees are chosen randomly

    • Non-respondents in the previous collection year

    • Site with an inspection or consultation visit for performance measurement

    • DART rate (days away from work, restriction or transfer) of 7.0 or higher in previous data collection




Does the data really help OSHA?

Now that OSHA has the data from BLS and the ODI, the Agency uses the information to

  • Calculate and establish specific injury and illness incidence rates

  • Develop targeted intervention programs (i.e., inspections and enforcement action)

  • Assist inspectors so that they can direct their efforts to the higher incidents hazards that are hurting workers.

  • Measure the success of agency efforts to reduce the number of workplace injuries and illnesses in select high-hazard industries

  • Provide the base data for the BLS Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, the Nation's primary source of occupational injury and illness data.


What is your role?

Be a savvy and educated reporter of your company’s illness and injury information. Understanding the OSHA 300 log reporting requirements will ensure an accurate portrayal of worker health and safety as well as maintaining OSHA compliance. Can you answer the following questions?

  • How do I complete the OSHA 300 Log and Form 301?

  • Am I required to post an OSHA Form 300A ? How do I know if I am exempt? 

  • What is classified as a work-related illness or injury? 

  • How do I fill the forms in correctly without over-reporting?

  • Do I have to fill in the form if I have no recordable injuries or illnesses in the previous year? What are the rules for posting?

  • Once the form is filled in and submitted, if requested by BLS or OSHA, are there other legal requirements I should know?


Not convinced that recordkeeping is important?

Besides providing a visible record of worker safety benchmarks and improvements (or worse, tragedies and reversals), establishments that are requested to but fail to submit a completed data collection form may be subject to OSHA enforcement actions, including the issuance of a citation and assessment of penalties!  So, take the time understand OSHA’s reporting requirements and implement them correctly – it affects your company and the nation’s workers.

If you need assistance with OSHA recordkeeping, Emilcott offers a variety of ways to help your business stay in compliance from a webinar-based course that outlines the rules and regulations to the development of complete health and safety plans. Or, if you have an OSHA recordkeeping question, just ask us!
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Topics: Emilcott, OSHA, health and safety, General Industry H&S, OSHA Compliance, General EHS, Construction H&S, Compliance, worker safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety, Webinar, reporting, regulation, Medical Records, BLS, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Understanding and Applying the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA)

Posted by Shivi Kakar

Nov 15, 2010 1:29:58 AM

Charles Peruffo

The Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §13101 et seq. (1990)) was a paradigm shift in the control of pollution (and hazardous waste). While previous regulations emphasized the “end of the pipeline”, the PPA moved the control of pollution upstream in the manufacturing process to prevent the waste from being generated in the first place. Closely related to the PPA is the NJ Pollution Prevention Act.  Passed in 1991, the NJ PPA implements the concept of reduction in waste production “upstream” by requiring affected companies to develop and submit a 5-year pollution reduction strategy and file  a Release and Pollution Prevention Report (RPPR). The NJ Release and Pollution Prevention Report collects data for New Jersey Right to Know Act ( NJRTK).

What does the Federal PPA require?


Facilities must account for their use of toxic chemicals  and, where feasible, reduce their use.  Toxic pollution that cannot be reduced should be recycled, and pollution that cannot be recycled should be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. 

EHS professionals must have a firm understanding of the processes that use toxic chemicals in order to reduce their use.  Documenting these activities is an important step in PPA compliance and must include an accounting for the final disposal of toxic chemicals.  Generally this is done using the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Reporting Form R.  

For facilities in New Jersey, what else is required?


The New Jersey Pollution Prevention Act (NJ PPA), enacted in August of 1991, requires a Pollution Prevention (“P2”) Plan for facilities that meet specific requirements:

  • A facility in New Jersey that files a Form R and a Release and Pollution Prevention Report (RPPR) under the New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Know Act for the same chemical(s) in two consecutive years.  Note that in New Jersey any employer required to submit a TRI Form R is also required to submit the RPPR.

  • The chemicals listed in the Form R and RPPR remain at or above the TRI activity thresholds.


The facility must  prepare a five-year Pollution Prevention (P2) Plan and submit a P2 Plan Summary by July 1 once they become covered (the second year they submit an RPPR for the same chemical).  This becomes the “base year”.  For each of the following years that the facility remains at or above the TRI activity thresholds, the facility completes the P2-115 which compares pollution prevention progress for the reporting year to the base year.

The PPA Filing Process by an EHS Professional


When recently preparing PPA paperwork for a small biotech site, I had to collect a variety of information for preparing a New Jersey P2 Plan.  A brief review of the steps is listed below.  For detailed instructions, look at NJDEP Form DEP-113.

  1. Contacted the company’s purchasing department to find out how much of each toxic chemical had been delivered to the facility. 

  2. Contacted the company’s hazardous waste management contractor to confirm that the amount purchased (Step 1) equaled the amount that was disposed. 

  3. Compare the purchased to disposed amounts. The amounts did not match. 

  4. Investigate the discrepancy.  It turned out the waste management contractor was using a less accurate method for calculating the percentage of toxic chemical in our waste stream.  Their laboratory data indicated that the company was disposing of more toxic chemical than purchased.  Ultimately, the volume data from the company’s purchasing department was used since no new toxic chemicals could be produced by the company’s processes. 

  5. Reviewed the company’s air permit for an estimation of the toxic chemicals lost to the air.

  6. Calculated the chemical remaining as residue in the empty drums, which were also removed by our hazardous waste management contractor.

  7. Contacted the site Controller for the facility SIC code.

  8. Prepared a “Five-Year Use Reduction Goal” based on pollution prevention activities such as process improvements after a review of documentation of meetings where possible improvements were discussed with personnel who work with toxic chemicals as well as process engineering diagrams. (Sets site five year pollution prevention goals).

    • Progress towards these goals needs to be reviewed yearly and documented on the site P2 Plan.



  9. Obtain signatures for plan from the “highest ranking corporate official with direct operating responsibility” and the “highest ranking corporate official at the facility”.


Note --- A P2 Plan Summary needs to be updated and submitted every five years for the chemicals referenced in the original P2 Plan submission.

This process needs to be repeated for each toxic chemical at each applicable facility in New Jersey with all of the information included as part of one P2 Plan regardless of the number of toxic chemicals reported.  The facility does need to file one RPPR for each chemical. Does this seem like a lot of work? Consider this:  In the twenty years since adoption, the PPA and NJ PPA have helped to substantially reduce the use and improper disposal of toxic chemicals by requiring industry to examine their work processes.

How about your facility?


As a facility, are you tracking your toxic chemicals and filing the appropriate PPA/NJ PPA documentation? Have you noticed that a mindful approach to the processes and paperwork have resulted in reduced usage and better, more healthful disposal of chemicals?

About Our Guest BloggerCharles Peruffo is an EHS professional specializing in laboratory health and safety. Prior to his EHS career, Charles spent many years as chemist in the pharmaceutical industry with responsibilities ranging from laboratory safety to analyst training.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Montclair State University and is pursuing his Master of Science in Occupational Safety Health Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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Topics: health and safety, General Industry H&S, General EHS, EPA, Emergency Response, Hazardous Waste Management, HazCom, Compliance, Air Sampling, reporting, chemical manufacturer, regulation, chemicals, Hazard Communication Standard, pollution prevention, pollution, chemical disposal, Right to Know

EPA Proposed Changes to the TSCA Inventory Update Rule (IUR)

Posted by Shivi Kakar

Sep 13, 2010 12:00:15 AM


Paula Kaufmann, CIH

In a recent blog about the rapidly approaching Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Form U submission in 2011, I mentioned that the EPA published a Proposed Rule detailing TSCA Inventory Update Reporting Modifications. The EPA anticipates promulgating a final rule by the spring of 2011 as the next scheduled IUR submission period is currently scheduled to run from June 1, 2011 through September 30, 2011.

Some of these modifications are really a big deal and will require a lot additional effort for most submitters. We should be seeing some commentary in response to the proposed rule about the cost of compliance with the modifications along with the benefits of having this collection of information about chemical importation, manufacture and use in the US. Hopefully this will be a spirited discussion and we will keep you posted on the outcomes and what they mean to you.

Although we don’t know what the final rule will look…the following is a list of the proposed changes that may affect many of our clients and you:

  • Electronic reporting of the IUR data, using an Agency-provided, web-based reporting software

    • After the final rule’s effective date, paper submissions would no longer be accepted.



  • Form U submission every 4 years (instead of every 5 years)

  • All submissions would require processing and use information (Part III of Form U)

  • No minimum manufacture (or import) quantity for certain chemical substances

    • This an elimination of the 25,000 lb. threshold for the chemical substances that are subject to rules or orders in following TSCA sections:

      • Section 5(a)(2) Significant New Use Rules (SNURs)

      • Section 5(b)(4) Chemicals of concern to EPA

      • Section 6 Prohibitions for chemicals with unreasonable risks

      • Section 5(e) Requirements or restrictions on chemical production or use

      • Section 5(f) Chemical with an unreasonable risk





  • IUR exemption changes for the following chemical substances:

    • No exemption for those with an enforceable consent agreement (ECA) to conduct testing.

    • Full exemption water.

    • Removal of polymers that are already fully exempt from the partially exempt list of chemical substances.



  • Significant new reporting requirements Form U completion:

    • Name and address belonging to the parent company.

    • Current Chemical Abstracts (CA) Index Name, as used to list the chemical substance on the TSCA Inventory, as part of the chemical identity.

    • Production volume for each of the years since the last principal reporting year. For the 2011 report this would include 2006, 2007, 2008 AND 2009 in addition to 2010.

    • Production volume directly exported and not domestically processed or used.

    • Volume of manufactured chemical substance (such as a by product) that is recycled, remanufactured, reprocessed, reused, or reworked .

    • Company Business Information (CBI)

      • Submission of substantiation for CBI claims in Section III (processing and use information).





  • Proposed changes for AFTER 2011 Form U submissions

    • Require reporting if the production volume of a substance met or exceeded the 25,000 pound threshold in any calendar year since the last principal reporting year.




With this significant list of proposed changes, Emilcott is paying close attention to TSCA-related news so that we can advise and guide our clients to be in compliance. We have worked with multiple U.S. and International clients with U.S. facilities that have misunderstood or ignored TSCA regulations resulting in a big problem that could have been avoided. If your facility falls under the TSCA guidelines, are you paying close attention to modifications to the TSCA IUR program? What do you think of the company cost vs. informational and monitoring benefits? What are you doing to be a part of the debate or prepare for submission?
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Topics: Emilcott, General EHS, EPA, Hazardous Materials, Compliance, TSCA & R.E.A.C.H., TSCA, Toxic Substance Control Act, reporting, chemical manufacturer, regulation, chemicals, regulatory

TSCA Form U Submission Year is 2012 (no longer 2011)!!!

Posted by Shivi Kakar

Sep 8, 2010 12:07:44 AM

Paula Kaufmann, CIH

August 2011 Update:   Information from the EPA regarding TSCA requirements and submission has changed significantly since this post was originally written in August 2010. Please also read BREAKING NEWS: New EPA TSCA Inventory Update Requirements (IUR) for 2012   and additional posts following to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information.

-PKaufmann

Is your facility a manufacturer or importer of chemicals in amounts of 25,000 pounds or greater?  If so, your company may need to participate in the next round of the EPA’s Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Update Rule (IUR) program and submit a Form U to the EPA.

Here’s how the EPA explains this rule:  “The IUR  requires manufacturers and importers of chemical substances included on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory to report site and manufacturing information for chemicals manufactured (including imported) in amounts of 25,000 pounds or greater at a single site.  Additional information on domestic processing and use must be reported for chemicals manufactured in amounts of 300,000 pounds or more at a single site. EPA uses the IUR data to support many health, safety, and environmental protection activities.”  For more information go to http://www.epa.gov/oppt/iur/

When Is the Next Reporting? THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!

The next submission period is currently planned for June 1 - September 30, 2011 when manufacturers and importers will report information on their 2010 production (and the EPA has proposed adding data for years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) . See revised information post:   BREAKING NEWS: New EPA TSCA Inventory Update Requirements (IUR) for 2012

How is IUR Changing for 2011 Reporting?

  1. Inorganic chemicals are no longer partially exempt from the IUR rule. This was a one-time exemption for 2006 reporting only.

  2. On August 13, 2010 the EPA published its proposed IUR Modifications Rule, beginning a 60-day comment period. The proposal would require electronic reporting and expanded manufacturing, processing, and use information.  The EPA anticipates promulgating a final rule by the spring of 2011. As aspects of the proposed rule have yet to  be finalized, Emilcott will  provide a definitive, easy-to-read list here on EHSWire.


So…stay tuned to EHSwire.com or www.emilcott.com to stay informed about any IUR reporting developments and reporting obligations in 2011 for the calendar year 2010.   If you have any questions about the upcoming IUR reporting or TSCA compliance question, please comment below, contact us directly or read more at http://www.emilcott.com/services/svcenvcompliance.asp.  Emilcott provides comprehensive support for TSCA compliance, including assisting with inventory and chemical substance use information subject to the IUR program.

Some interesting Form U questions and facts -

Did you know that 1,541 companies submitted a Form U in 2006?

Some submitted multiple Forms because as each manufacturing site that originates a chemical substance is required to report. The 2006 IUR public data are available on the IUR web site (www.epa.gov/iur).

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Topics: EPA, Hazardous Waste Management, Hazardous Materials, Compliance, TSCA & R.E.A.C.H., TSCA, Toxic Substance Control Act, reporting, chemical manufacturer, regulation, chemicals, regul

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