WASHINGTON -- Process safety and the management of chemical reactivity hazards are the goals of a new Alliance between the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Process Safety Alliance. The OSHA and Process Safety Alliance will work to provide its participating members, small businesses and the public with process safety information, guidance, and access to training resources.

"Those working in the chemical and petroleum industries face significant hazards daily as they mix, manufacture, and package a variety of dangerous compounds," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "We are pleased to join forces with the organizations of the Process Safety Alliance, and are confident that our combined expertise will help employers to protect the safety and health of industry employees as well as the general public."

The OSHA and Process Safety Alliance signatories (known as the Alliance Partners) are the American Chemical Society; the American Chemistry Council; the API; the Center for Chemical Process Safety of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; The Chlorine Institute; the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association; the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The director of the Center for Chemical Process Safety, Scott Berger, stated on behalf of the Alliance Partners that, "The broad participation of chemical and refining trade associations, technical associations, the Environmental Protection Agency and OSHA underscores the common interest shared by industry and government in protecting workers, communities and the environment against catastrophic fires, explosions, and toxic releases. Each signatory looks forward to working toward the shared goal of continued improvement in process safety."

"Government and industry collaboration is a proven way to advance chemical process safety," said Susan Parker Bodine, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "EPA looks forward to working with the Alliance partners on our shared goal of preventing chemical accidents."

In addition, through the Alliance, the organizations will deliver training courses regarding process safety; speak or participate in OSHA's or the Alliance Partners' conferences and regional meetings; share information on best practices and effective approaches, and publicize results through OSHA- or Alliance Partners-developed training programs, seminars and Web sites; and focus on specific issues and projects to identify and manage chemical reactivity hazards.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach, and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

We recently added a new feature to CCM 8 that I wanted to let you know about. I have demonstrated it to two customers and they both loved it. It’s also a great example of the power of the Dynamic Forms engine behind v8.

Since version 7 (which is almost five years old BTW!), we have listed the regulations associated to a specific MSDS record. This association was made by comparing the chemical ingredients against our regulation database. This has been a popular feature, but has been lacking one critical component. What chemical ingredient triggered the material for the specific regulation?

CCM 8 solves the problem by displaying a new grid in the Chemical Regulations tab listing the regulation along with the chemical name and CAS number that triggered it. Below is a screenshot demonstrating this:

• The formulation could change. It’s important to note even slight changes to the chemical composition of your hazardous materials. A change from .05% to .15% for a carcinogen, for example, could be the difference between requiring you to report a chemical for regulatory purposes or not.


• The manufacturer may have learned additional information about their product. It’s common for manufacturer to provide additional information on MSDS documents as new information is learned. This could be due to a formulation change or it could simply be a change in the testing or hazard evaluation process. The more information you and your employees know about a hazardous material, the better!


• The manufacturer may have moved, been bought out or merged with another company. It’s always useful to have quick access to the contact information for a manufacturer in case you need additional information about the makeup of the material, specific characteristics or hazards.

The MSDS Age Distribution report uses a graph to visually display the age (based on revision date) of an active MSDS collection (see below for an example). This report is designed to help you understand how old your MSDS collection is and whether or not you should consider refreshing your MSDS collection.

If you are a Safetec customer and would like to get a copy of your most recent MSDS Aging, please feel to contact your account manager or project manager or you can always send me an email and I’ll make sure to have someone get this out to you.

Labels: CCM V8, MSDS, Reports

WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released its annual enforcement statistics, confirming that the agency's enforcement programs are producing positive results for the benefit of American workers.

In FY 2007, OSHA conducted 39,324 total inspections, a 4.3 percent increase over its stated goal of 37,700. Total violations of OSHA's standards and regulations were 88,846, a 6 percent increase from Fiscal Year (FY) 2006. The agency cited 67,176 serious violations, a 9 percent increase from the previous year and a more than 12 percent increase over the past four years. The number of cited repeat violations also rose from 2,551 in FY 2006 to 2,714 in FY 2007.

"The fact that OSHA surpassed its inspection goal for FY 2007 proves our enforcement commitment remains strong," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "The significant increase in citations for serious and repeat violations documents OSHA's focus on identifying and eliminating severe hazards in the workplace."

Fatality and injury and illness rates have continued to decline to record lows. The injury and illness incidence rate of 4.4 per 100 employees for calendar year (CY) 2006 was the lowest that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has ever recorded. Workplace fatality rates hit an all-time low in CY 2006 with 3.9 fatalities per 100,000 employees.

OSHA's results show that a strong, fair and effective enforcement program, along with outreach to employees and employers and partnerships and cooperative programs, add value to the workplace for both employers and employees by reducing injuries, illnesses and fatalities.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to help protect the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach, and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

Labels: citations, enforcement, inspections, osha, penalties