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Safety & Environemntal Updates For July 2008
Deling with Climate Change; Lead Soldering & Haz Waste; Emergency Response Guideline; Top Causes of Injuries; Safety Awareness; Control Mold.
by: Gary Jones
Dealing with Climate Change The EPA this month released a report for helping enterprises adapt to the business end of the issue of global climate change. The report details steps that businesses can take to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and helps choose an EPA program for each application to maximize the positive business ends.
Lead Soldering and Other Scrap Metal Classification Under Haz Waste Regulations . Q. My manufacturing process incorporates lead soldering. The soldering process creates lead splatter and lead-contaminated sponges. Does the lead splatter qualify for the scrap metal exclusion? How should we manage the lead-contaminated sponges?
2008 edition of the Emergency Response Guidebook Changes since the 2004 edition: All sections have been updated, revised, and expanded. The ERG has been formatted to be compatible with mobile devices. Addition of all new dangerous goods listed in UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. Guide 147, which had been left intentionally blank in the 2004 edition of the Guidebook, now covers Lithium Ion Batteries.
Top Ten Causes of Injuries The Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety recently released their 2007 Workplace Safety Index. This annual report identifies which occupational injuries cost U.S. industries the most in worker compensation claims. The report tallies the cost of these top ten disabling injuries for 2005 (the most recent year for available data) at an estimated $48.3 billion.
EPA's Guide For Business Regarding Climate Change EPA is releasing a new resource, A Business Guide to U.S. EPA Climate Partnership Programs, for businesses committed to addressing the risks and opportunities associated with climate change. The guide features profiles on 35 EPA climate-change related partnership programs, as well as a handy table so companies can look up programs most appropriate for their industry and business objectives. Each program profile defines the environmental value delivered by the program and the business case for participating, such as cost savings, operational efficiency, reduced business risk, new or expanded markets, enhanced reputation and brand protection.
Brainstorm Your Way to Safety Awareness In the last Advisor, we began exploring ways to build safety awareness into your workers' thought patterns … to get them to think about doing things safely as well as quickly, accurately, or with a reward in mind. One way was to engage workers in groupthink exercises, such as safety brainstorming, in which they come up with safety ideas as a team. Experts agree this is a far stronger way to involve them than in a traditional one-way communication, such as a lecture. The ideas are also ''owned'' by those who generate them, as opposed to being imposed by an outside source. They are, therefore, more likely to be respected.
Workplace Injury Data 'Grossly Inaccurate'? House Education and Labor Committee hearing held to explore why growing evidence points to undercounting of even serious injuries. It was a first step toward re-examining the way the government determines if employers are keeping their workers safe.
Controlling Molds in the Workplace Although molds play an important role in the natural environment, they can cause a variety of health effects and symptoms in people, such as asthma attacks, as well as the irritation of the eyes, skin, nose, and throat. Besides the potential health concerns associated with molds, employers should also be aware of the effects molds can have on the structural integrity of a building. If left unchecked, mold can eventually cause structural damage to a wood-framed building, weakening floors and walls as it feeds on moist wooden structural members.
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