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IHMM To Launch COLLABORATION

For the first time in 35 years, IHMM will launch a fully functional, secure, and private platform that facilitates the ability of all of our certificants to collaborate with each other. The platform is named ‘COLLABORATION,” as that is precisely what we are creating – a virtual environment within which professionals can share their issues, questions, address how to solve their problems and contribute solutions to each other. This is the same platform used for years by the American Society of Association Executives that allows thousands of non-profit leaders from around the world to work with each other, and the same platform we use at the American Society of Safety Professionals to work on the ISO 45001 certification and all associated activities.Access for all IHMM certificants is free of charge and accomplished using the same username and password you use to gain access to your account at IHMM in Association Anywhere. Our communities of practice collaborate here… Look for notification of COLLABORATE in the next few weeks!

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Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM

Created: 21 January 2020

Last Updated: 21 January 2020

NEORSD Tunnel Dewatering Pump Station Tour

On Tuesday November 19th, in association with the Northern Ohio Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (“AWMA”), members of NEOCHMM, toured the NEORSD Tunnel Dewatering Pump Station.

Located off E. 140th street and abutting I-90/SR-2 eastbound, this pump station is an integral part of NEORSD efforts to capture up to 98% of the combined sewer overflow from rainfall events having a 5-year frequency or less.  The pump station is designed to take sewerage and stormwater from the Euclid Creek and Dugway tunnels and route this wastewater to the NEOSRD “Easterly” Wastewater Treatment Plant. The base of the facility is about 220 feet underground.  It has multiple pumps to dewater up to 140 million gallons held in the tunnels over a 24 hour period.   It is part of the NEORSD’s Long Term Control Plan (“LTCP”) to design, build and operate collection tunnels in is service area to capture and treat combined sewer overflows.  NEORSD will eventually have seven of such tunnels costing over $1 billion; five of which are currently under design, construction or in operation.

NEOCHMM thanks AWMA for allowing us to participate in the tour. NEOCHMM also thanks NEORSD for providing everyone for a very interesting tour of another one of their facilities

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Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM

Created: 20 November 2019

Last Updated: 20 November 2019

Hazardous Materials Society Launches

The Hazardous Materials Society that launched on December 4, 2019 already has more than 40 education and training programs presented for our certificants and prospective certificants. See: https://hazmatsociety.org/education-training/


HMS also has affinity programs that can save you money https://hazmatsociety.org/affinity-programs/ a scholarship program that will be developed and launched later this year https://hazmatsociety.org/scholarship/ conferences that enrich our professional experience https://hazmatsociety.org/conferences/ a jobs board https://hazmatsociety.org/jobs/ and more.

Why is HMS here? To start, 6 reasons https://hazmatsociety.org/about-hms/

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Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM

Created: 21 January 2020

Last Updated: 21 January 2020

IHMM Winter Update

IHMM is pleased to announce that it has received reaccreditation for its CHMM, CHMP, and CDGP professional credentials. Accreditation from the American National Standards Institute [ANSI] is the highest level of accreditation excellence achievable for professional credentials. The ANSI accreditation mark is a symbol of excellence, recognized worldwide by employers, industry leaders, hiring managers, and credential holders. Since its launch in 2003, ANSI’s personnel certification accreditation program based on the international standard ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024:2012, Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons, has helped certification programs make the journey from good to great. Over 5.2 million people worldwide and counting hold a certification from an ANSI-accredited organization.

The Value of ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 Accreditation 

• The ANSI mark signals to an employer that the credential holder has undergone a valid, fair, and reliable assessment to verify that s/he has the necessary competencies to practice.
• ANSI accreditation provides an added layer of legal defensibility against invalid claims.
• Many government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Federal and State OSHA, and the FDA, rely on ANSI accreditation as it assures the competency of the certification program.
• The accountability and transparency built into the ANSI process support conformity assessment attestations, and can result in reduced liability insurance.

International Recognition

ANSI is the first personnel certification accreditation body in the United States to meet internationally accepted practices for accreditation, and the first to become a signatory to the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) Multilateral Arrangement (MLA) for ISO/IEC 17024. Additionally, ANSI is the sole US representative to the International Organization of Standardization (ISO).  ANSI's international involvement and recognition saves time and money for ANSI-accredited certification bodies looking to expand into international markets.

ANSI's letter to IHMM may be read here.

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Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM

Created: 19 November 2019

Last Updated: 19 November 2019

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