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  www.specialtytechnicalconsultants.com

Spring 2011 

IN THIS ISSUE
Did You Know?
Compliance Program Quick Tips
On The Audit Trail
EPA Proposal Updates
TCEQ Emis. Reduction Grants
Lockout/Tagout and Machine Guarding
STC News
STC Educational Webinar
Upcoming Events
DID YOU KNOW?

EPA Green Tips Podcasts. EPA has again posted a series of Green Tips podcasts. >>>

OSHA releases Green Jobs Hazards Analysis Guidance. "Green jobs" are jobs - as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Green Jobs Initiative (http://www.bls.gov/green/) - that help to improve the environment. >>>

ASHREA Standard 188 -Prevention of Prevention of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems - to be finalized. This new ASHRAE standard details the specific hazard analysis and critical control points process for implementing Legionella risk management. >>> 

NIOSH launches hearing loss prevention and noise control Twitter page. Tweets will address information including safety and health research, facts and statistics, news and updates, conferences, and publications. Follow them here. 

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  COMPLIANCE

  PROGRAM

  QUICK TIPS


Need to know what emission factor to use? The Factor Information Retrieval (FIRE) Data System provides EPA's recommended emission estimation factors for criteria and hazardous air pollutants. FIRE includes information about industries and their emitting processes, and the chemicals typically emitted. An internet version of the database - WebFIRE - can be found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/webfire.

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Airline Seating On The Audit Trail:
 How Big is a Confined Space? 

  Barbara Jo Ruble, QEP, CPEA, President, Baltimore, MD 


During the course of a recent audit, I discovered that many of my colleagues and I had been taught to apply OSHA's confined space standard (29 CFR 1910.146) incorrectly. The question that came up related to identifying "what is a confined space", which I find to be one of the more frequently debated questions among safety professionals. Since this discussion took us beyond the basic standard and into the Compliance Directive and the preamble to the standard, I thought it would be worthwhile to share the details with others who may face similar situations.  >>>

Head Scratcher

Whatever happened to..? An Update on EPA Hazardous Waste Rule Proposals for Contaminated Rags, Waste Pharmaceudicals and Electronic Manifests

Deb Hunsicker, REA, Senior Analyst, Sagle, ID

 

Occasionally, EPA issues a rule proposal that generates a great deal of interest, but that soon drops out of sight or languishes through comment periods, revisions, and agency review. In this issue, we discuss the current status of three key hazardous waste proposals issued within the past 10 years and review whether we expect to see a final rule any time soon. >>> 

 

TCEQ Logo Texas Emissions Reduction Plan Grants

 Curt Johnson, CPEA, Senior Program Director, Reichmond, TX


When was the last time that the government gave you money to reduce your emissions? For most organizations, the answer is never. But the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has already distributed more than $90 Million to reduce emissions from underperforming vehicles and equipment. And they want to hand out more. >>>

 

OSHA

Lockout/Tagout and Machine Guarding: 

The Minor Servicing Exception

Randy Roig, PhD, Senrior Program Director and STC Co-Founder


The OSHA Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) (LOTO) Standard is one of the more complex federal safety regulations. Compliance with the Standard is further complicated by its inter-relation with two other significant standards - a connection that frankly, many people fail to make. >>>

STC News 

 

NEW buttonRegulatory Update Tracking Services  

Keeping current with regulatory changes can be a time consuming task. For a large operation, it might take hours to sort through the myriad federal and state rule proposals and adoptions. Not all states provide online access to their regulatory registers. The publication frequency for state registers varies, as do the presentation formats - some provide official publication, others provide updates as webpage summaries, and a few consolidate update information within a database that must be sorted by the user. 
 
STC now offers our clients periodic regulatory update tracking services. STC's experienced regulatory analysts monitor federal and state regulatory changes and provide customized summaries of these changes for your further review and distribution. Our regulatory update tracking services are customized to your operations and needs - site location(s), processes and operations, and federal/state regulatory program applicability.  We currently provide these services for clients in the semiconductor and food processing industries, as well as a diversified global manufacturing client. STC can provide you with updates of proposed and/or final regulatory changes on either a monthly or quarterly basis - and in a variety of formats to support your EHS information management specifications.

For more information about STC's Regulatory Update Tracking Services, contact Melanie Powers-Schanbacher at (908)707-4001 or by email ([email protected]).

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STC Educational Webinar Series 2011

 

Audit Action Plan Strategies: How to Get the Results You Need

 

Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Free! All are welcome.

 

Audits are essential to assuring effective EHS management programs. However, these tools are successful only when there is effective follow up and resolution of audit findings; otherwise they become a liability. This session will review aspects of auditing that enhance development and management of action plans. Guidance will be provided on optimum structure and management of corrective and preventive action plans. A case will be presented for measuring action plan performance relative to target dates and actual action item completion dates. Participants will be able to apply these concepts within their own EHS management programs, helping assure prompt effective resolution of audit action plans.

 

Our presenter will be Mr. Curt Johnson, CPEA and STC Senior Program Director. Curt has over 30 years experience in EHS auditing and compliance assurance strategies and is certified in all four auditing specialties from the Board of EHS Auditing Certifications. He has conducted hundreds of EHS and management systems audits and guided development of the 1995 Survey of Voluntary Environmental Audit Practices, which was instrumental in modifying USEPA's policy on voluntary auditing and disclosure. As the VP of EHS Auditing for Browning Ferris Industries he was responsible for over a hundred audits a year and the responsible closure of every audit finding. In his consulting practice currently, Curt assists organizations with design and implementation of their audit programs.

 

Space is limited; Reserve your Webinar seat now. Register here . 


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Upcoming Events


  TCEQ Environmental Trade Fair and Conference Banner

Curt Johnson, CPEA will be attending the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)'s Environmental Trade Fair and Conference (ETFC) in Austin, TX on May 3rd and 4th. Held annually at the Austin Convention Center, this conference is billed as the state's premier environmental educational forum. This year the ETFC will have 11 eleven concurrent environmentally themed tracks, 100 educational sessions and 400 exhibitors. 

   

Additional information about the conference, including a conference brochure and registration link, is available on TCEQ's website (http://www.tceq.texas.gov/p2/events/etfc/etf.html).   

 

  

Kathryn Nobrega will be attending NAEM's Measuring Corporate Sustainability: Understanding The Metrics That Matter seminar on May 4, 2011at the B Ocean Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Measuring Corporate Sustainability brings together EHS/Sustainability managers, ESG research firms and members of the investor relations community to learn and dialogue about ways to improve the consistency, clarity and value of corporate sustainability efforts. The seminar will help attendees gain a better understanding of who the key sustainability analytics firms are, what they do, why and for whom they do it and hear from their peers about how they developed their external reporting strategies.

 

More details about this NAEM seminar can be found at http://metrics2011.naem.org/.

 

 

Kathryn Nobrega will be attending the 2011 American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce2011). AIHce2011 will be held May 14-19, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. The conference, co-sponsored by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA�) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH�), is includes more than 700 courses, sessions, posters, lectures, workshops and luncheon discussions designed to address professional development, scientific issues, management trends, and industry innovations.

  

Conference details and registration forms can be found at http://www.aihce2011.org/aihce11/. 

 

Kathryn Nobrega and Curt Johnson, CPEA will be participating in the 2011 Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Seminar on June 7 - 8, 2011. The 2011 EHS Seminar is presented by the Texas Chemical Council and Association of Chemical Industry of Texas (TCC/ACIT) and will be held at the Moody Gardens Hotel in Galveston, TX. Educational tracks include environmental, health, safety and energy issues, facing the chemical industry, with a dedicated track for process safety management, and an all-day training session "Breakthrough for EHS Success." Watch for STC on the exhibit floor (Booth 112) and stop in to talk about how we can help you craft EHS Solutions for Business Success.

 

Conference and Exhibitor information can be found at http://ehs-seminar.com/. 

 

   

Carol Robinson, CIH, CSP and STC Principal will be attending ASSE's Safety 2011 Exposition. Safety 2011 will be held June 12- 15, 2011 at McCormick Place West in Chicago, Illinois. The conference and exposition includes an Executive Summit, Key Issues Roundtables, several Topic Track educational sessions covering a broad range of practice areas, industries and interest areas, and a series of pre and post-conference seminars during the week. In 2011, ASSE celebrates its 100th anniversary. Safety 2011 will include special events and displays that will celebrate the organization's anniversary.

 

Full conference details can be found at http://www.asse.org/education/pdc11/.

  

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Thank You.

We hope you have enjoyed this quarterly newsletter. We intend to make On The Audit Trail a regular series and I welcome your comments and suggestions for article topics.

 

If you would like more information regarding any of these articles, I invite you to contact our team members. You can find contact details for our team members on our website - www.specialtytechnicalconsultants.com.  
 
 
 
And I hope you will register for our May webinar - Audit Action Plan Strategies: How to Get the Results You Need.

 
Regards,

 Ruble signature

Barbara Jo Ruble, QEP, CPEA

President, Specialty Technical Consultants, Inc

Tel: 410-625-1952

 

Email: [email protected]

 

 

 

 

Questions about this Newsletter?

Melanie Powers-Schanbacher

Telephone: 908.707.4001

Email: [email protected]