Chemicals

Last week, Health Canada issued an interim enforcement policy for workplaces covered under Canada’s Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). The interim policy provides exemptions for a number of safety data sheet (SDS) and supplier label requirements established under the Hazardous Products Act (HPA), Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR) and Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (HMIRA). […]

This year, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is commemorating 50 years since the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, which was signed into law on December 29, 1970. In honor of this major milestone, OSHA is announcing its re-commitment to the Agency’s fundamental mission of ensuring safe and healthful […]

Multiple sources have reported a recent and significant increase in calls to poison control centers concerning harmful exposures to cleaning and disinfecting products. It is especially important during these challenging times that we not worsen the situation through unsafe use of cleaning chemicals, including application of cleaning products to the human body, or intentional or […]

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on workplaces, as levels of operation change or even cease due to lockdown measures, and employees find themselves more geographically spread out than ever. Unfortunately, these challenges may also reveal gaps in our EHS management system that we didn’t know about before.  During “normal” times, we […]

During the COVID-19 outbreak, good housekeeping practices are essential to safety in the workplace, as well as in the home. But even household cleaning products, if used improperly, can create serious dangers. With our increased reliance on these products for preventing the spread of COVID-19, we must always remember to handle them safely to avoid […]

Those of us, myself included, who are fortunate enough to not only still be working, but working from the comfort and safety of home, should remember the sacrifices made by nurses, doctors and other healthcare professions whose duty to patients puts them in harm’s way. There are already hundreds of thousands of confirmed cases of […]

In response to the uncertainty and need for information about COVID-19, VelocityEHS has launched its Disaster Relief web page, providing an abundance of timely resources to help EHS professionals and others during this outbreak, including limited time,  complementary access to the safety data sheets (SDSs) associated with the EPA’s approved list of disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.  Individuals can now visit […]

The ongoing global pandemic involving the novel coronavirus SARS CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 is creating an urgent need for disinfectant usage. Frequent cleaning of potentially contaminated surfaces is essential to limit the further spread of the virus. EPA has provided some direction by publishing a list of disinfectants recognized to be effective against SARS CoV-2 […]

On March 10, 2020 the U.S.–Canadian Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) published its 2019-2020 work plans. These work plans introduce the specific initiatives that the RCC will pursue over the coming year to promote further alignment between U.S. and Canadian health, safety and environmental regulations. The 2019-2020 RCC work plans will specifically focus on continued alignment […]

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 recently added 160 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the list of chemicals covered by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). This addition creates immediate regulatory requirements for establishments that manufacture, process, or otherwise […]