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Look, Up in the Sky!

The featured speaker at the October 24 NEOCHMM meeting was Jim Chambers who is the current Chapter Secretary. Jim formerly worked at FedEx for 19 years as a Dangerous Goods Specialist. He shared some of his knowledge and experiences regarding Dangerous Goods transportation via cargo aircraft.

Dangerous good is the name the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) uses for what is called a hazardous material by the Department of Transportation (DOT). No matter what they are called, dangerous goods and hazardous materials must be properly identified, packaged, labeled, marked, manifested, and loaded into any transport vehicle. This is particularly important for dangerous goods being shipped by air since there is no place for an aircraft to pull over and park in the sky in the event of an adverse hazmat incident.

All packages are carefully inspected using comprehensive checklists before being loaded onto an aircraft. They are either placed into unit load devices or secured on pallets and are securely anchored to prevent shifting during flight. Depending on the hazard classes, packages are placed within certain zones within the aircraft to separate incompatible materials from each other. Magnetized materials that can interfere with the aircraft’s navigation equipment are loaded in the rear of the aircraft.

Some of the dangerous goods Jim encountered over the years that some people don’t think about as being dangerous goods when shipped are safety matches, ammunition, loaded firearms, liquor, electronics powered by lithium batteries, and portable generators, just to name a few.

Jim said that any package with a questionable odor coming into a shipping facility has a good chance of being “kicked” or rejected. His advice is not to store any boxes used for shipping in chemical process areas where they can absorb and retain odors.

NEOCHMM thanks Jim for presenting this topic at the meeting and for his dedication as a Board officer.

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Written by Kenneth Doyle, MBA, CHSP, CHEP

Created: 28 October 2019

Last Updated: 28 October 2019

IHMM Fall Update—Progress on the Strategic Plan

On Sunday, September 8, 2019, the IHMM Board met at the National Safety Council Meeting in San Diego.   At that time, the Board formally accepted the merger of the Institute of Safety and Health Management (“ISHM”) into IHMM.   The ISHM Board was dissolved and two of those Board Members were placed on the IHMM Board to represent those Certificants from ISHM.   IHMM welcomes all the Certificants and thanks the ISHM Board to their past service.

Acquisition or Merger of other related organizations into IHMM has been part of the Strategic Plan. The IHMM wants to continue to round out the certifications offered by IHMM and leverage the assets of our Executive Director and Staff in the administration of credentials.   In the past few years, IHMM used specialized software to automate its back office operations.  This freed up staff time to expand our credential base. The staff has worked diligently in the past few months to integrate all the ISHM Certificants into the IHMM system. The staff will now focus on enhancing these “new” credentials, some of which will hopefully be accredited by ANSI and CESB.

Since IHMM now represent nine different credentials, the IHMM Board feels that a separate organization is needed to promote these credentials, offer training and networking opportunities to its Certificants.   In the past, this has often been done in conjunction with the Alliance of Hazardous Material Professionals (“AHMP”). In fact, the predecessor organization of AHMP was the Academy of Hazardous Materials Management (“ACHMM”) and ACHMM was born from IHMM. The relationship between IHMM and AHMP will continue.

However, as part of the Strategic Plan, the IHMM Board feels a new vehicle or organization is needed to promote all nine certifications offered by IHMM, as well as any new certifications in the future. Enter, the Hazardous Materials Society (“HMS”). The IHMM Board has authorized and funded the formation of HMS. Because there needs to be a fire wall between a credentialing part of IHMM and the promotional part of IHMM, HMS will have its own Board of Directors and independently carry out training and networking opportunities. You will hear much more about what HMS has to offer, and the potential for NEOCHMM to affiliate with HMS in the upcoming months. HMS will operate with the Executive Director and Staff of IHMM, and to that extent, remains accountable to the IHMM Board. However, the IHMM Board’s primary duty remains in the overall strategic planning and oversight for administration of credentials.

The best way you can enhance the value of your credential is to mentor a younger professional and have them sit for the credentialing exam. More information on IHMM credentials can be found on our website.

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Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM

Created: 08 October 2019

Last Updated: 08 October 2019

RiverSweep 2019 Progress Update

Progress Photos of the project site taken August 2019:

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Written by Ken Doyle

Created: 12 August 2019

Last Updated: 12 August 2019

RiverSweep 2019

On May 11, 2019, a few of NEOCHMM’s, “usual suspects” gathered at a lot off of East Schaaf Road in Independence, Ohio for our annual RiverSweep event.  This lot is near the confluence of West Creek and the Cuyahoga River.  At one time a bar was on the site.  The building was torn down and the lot restored to its riparian character to protect West Creek.  The lot was then modified into a wetland to take and treat run off from East Schaaf Road.  During heavy rains, West Creek will flood into this lot, thus relieving pressure on flooding further downstream on the Cuyahoga River.

With assistance from employees of Shook Construction and a Boy Scout Troop, we planted about 20 Maple and Locust trees around the perimeter of the lot, thereby enhancing the habitat for wildlife in the area.  We extend our thanks toWest Creek Conservancy for supporting the event and for all those who participated in improving the habitat.

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Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM

Created: 13 May 2019

Last Updated: 13 May 2019