Chemicals
167 results
Intro to Hazard Communication, Part One: So You’re New to HazCom?
Congratulations! You’ve learned that you’re responsible for managing Hazard Communication (HazCom) for your company’s chemical inventory. That’s a huge responsibility, but it’s also a great opportunity to improve workplace safety and become an EHS leader. You might feel overwhelmed. We get it – we’ve all been there before. It can be difficult to even get […]
OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations of 2018
OSHA just named its Top 10 Most Cited Violations in 2018 at the National Safety Council Congress and Expo. Among the top risks worker health and safety, Hazard Communication continues to top the agency’s list, as it has for over six years. For those involved in chemical management, Hazard Communication ranking of the list’s No. […]
What Do Coin Flips Have to Do With EHS Risks?
Many EHS professionals still struggle to identify and correct risks in the workplace. In fact, as we’ve recently discussed in this blog, both the number and rate of occupational fatalities have been rising in recent years, which points to problems with risk assessment and control. One reason for this poor performance may be that risks […]
Anniversary of 9/11 is a Powerful Reminder of Importance of Emergency Planning
This week, the Unites States remembers the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We’ve had 17 years now of grieving and lesson-learning, but the emotional scars will always remain. For many people who were near Ground Zero of the WTC attacks, especially first responders called to the scene and their loved ones, the pain of […]
Are You Ready for the GHS Revision 7 Changes?
OSHA recently indicated its intent to update the current HazCom 2012 Standard – which is aligned with GHS Revision 3 – to align it with the United Nation’s most recent edition, GHS Revision 7. The UN allows nations and agencies the flexibility to pick and choose which elements of the GHS to adopt. While specifics […]
The Key Components of Effective Emergency Planning
By Phil Molé Large scale emergencies, such as the flooding that devastated Texas’ Gulf Coast during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, are often worsened due to failures in emergency planning that place first responders, workers and the general public at risk for exposure to hazardous chemicals. Incomplete knowledge of the identities and hazards of chemicals on-site, […]
Management of Change: It’s About More Than Just Compliance…It’s About Best Practice
For many safety professionals, Management of Change (MOC) tends to conjure up thoughts of OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard, EPA’s Risk Management Plan (RMP) Rule, or other complex regulations intended to help prevent major accidents or environmental releases involving hazardous chemicals. While certainly required by numerous safety and environmental regulations, the value of MOC […]
Management of Change (MOC): Strategies for Compliance
For operations involving hazardous processes, change management can be a matter of life and death. Operational failures resulting from insufficiently planned changes can cause catastrophic events such as explosions or chemical releases that endanger human lives, and the environment. That is why OSHA developed the Process Safety Management (PSM) of Highly Hazardous Chemicals Standard, which […]
Chemical Spotlight: Ammonium Chloride
Note: OSHA has a substance-specific standard to protect employees from overexposure to Ammonium Chloride. Read on for an overview of the chemical’s health hazards and related safety information. Get access to the industry-leading database of MSDS / SDS documents by signing up for a free trial. Ammonium Chloride and its Uses A white crystalline chemical, ammonium chloride is […]
Are Your JSAs Good Enough? Don’t Wait for a Workplace Incident to Find Out
You already know that workplace accidents can have devastating consequences. You understand that effective EHS management must involve active identification and control of hazards, which is the primary intention behind risk assessments. You may even use job safety analysis (JSAs), to perform formal risk assessments that break down jobs into their constituent tasks in order […]