Chemicals

Are you struggling to effectively manage your chemical inventory? Many safety and health professionals are fighting an uphill battle to prevent unwanted chemicals from entering their inventory, such as chemicals on certain regulatory watch lists or chemicals that don’t meet sustainability objectives. Whatever the case may be, customers now have a way to harness more […]

by Blake McGowan, CPE There are many things that are new and exciting when one works at Humantech. There is the standard list; working as part of a team of dedicated professionals, working in foreign countries, being introduced to diverse cultures, a great variety of types of business, and so on. But one thing I […]

For decades, the material safety data sheet (MSDS) has been the back-bone of OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). As most safety professionals know by now, the Hazard Communication Standard has been revised by OSHA to align with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), the result of which will include substantial […]

by Greg Cresswell, CPE What is a Physical Demands Analysis? A Physical Demands Analysis (PDA) is a document that describes the physical and environmental exposures that are required by employees in order to complete job tasks.  They come in many forms and take on many different names.  For example, your company may call them “Physical […]

This round up of news from OSHA and the EPA includes updates  on GHS, I2P2, Silica Standard, the Mercury Standard and the new Greenhouse Gas Map. OSHA OSHA’s GHS Adoption Delayed at OMB — OMB has extended the review of OSHA’s revised Hazard Communication Standard. Best guess for OMB’s final action on GHS is February. […]

OSHA is proposing penalties of up $49,200 for two manufactures and two distributors in Florida for failure to protect employees from exposure to formaldehyde and failure to communicate hazards of products to downstream users. According to the news release issued on September 8, 2011, OSHA inspected the Florida firms based on a referral from Oregon’s […]

An MSDS or material safety data sheet is the backbone of a compliant hazardous chemical management system. Unfortunately, MSDSs rarely get the respect they deserve, at least not until the day it is urgently needed in an emergency or is requested by an OSHA inspector. By that time it is often lost in a sea […]

OSHA is planning on publishing a final rule in August that will align the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). It’s not clear what affect (if any) that alignment will have on the NFPA and HMIS chemical hazard rating and labeling systems. One issue of […]

Staying compliant with OSHA and the EPA can be difficult and maddening. Still, the complexity of agency regulations and the opaque manner in which rules are sometimes published and enforced are not a reliable defense when it comes to compliance violations. Organizations must take responsibility for understanding the rules and regulations under which they operate. […]

VelocityEHS hosted a recent Webinar on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals  (GHS) and the participants had a number of great questions. Considering how we’re all in this together, we wanted to share a few of the questions and answers with you. Is the red border around the pictograms required? Is […]