Regulatory Compliance

Is Your Facility Prepared for an Emergency?

September is National Preparedness Month (NPM)! NPM is recognized each September to promote family and community disaster planning now and throughout the year.

The 2020 theme is Disasters Don’t Wait- Make your Plan Today.

The same principles promoted for NPM apply to prepare for workplace emergencies. Specifically, starting with an up-to-date Emergency Action Plan!

Emergency Action Plans and Contingency Plans are required by various regulations, including  OSHA 29 CFR 1910.38 and 157, Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Safety Code 527 CMR 1.0, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection 310 CMR 30.000.

It’s important to know if your facility is required to have an Emergency Action Plan or a Contingency Plan because regulators will look for the appropriate implementation during inspections.

All employees must have access to the written Plan and be trained on it. It’s critical that everyone be well-versed in proper response procedures should an incident occur! It’s good practice to hold drills for the […]

September 17th, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , , , |
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MassDEP Hazardous Waste Management Guidance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) recently amended its April 8, 2020 Hazardous Waste Management Guidance During the State of Emergency for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Effective August 26, 2020, MassDEP is implementing the following amended guidance resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic for the items noted below related to hazardous waste management. Learn what you need to do in order to comply with the new regulation:

  • Compliance with hazardous waste container and tank inspection requirements for Small Quantity Generator (SQG) and Large Quantity Generator (LQG) facilities (described at 310 CMR 30.686 and 30.696, respectively) if the facility is closed during the State of Emergency- A facility that is normally subject to container and tank inspection requirements but is closed during the State of Emergency, should make every reasonable effort to do applicable daily/weekly inspections. If employers have concerns about having their employees onsite to do the inspections, then they should contact the DEP at […]
September 10th, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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Massachusetts Safety Standards for Office Spaces During the COVID-19 Reopening Period

On May 18, Governor Baker announced the State’s Plan to safely reopen the Massachusetts economy, while minimizing the health impacts of COVID-19. The guidance includes mandatory sector-specific standards and recommended best practices for sectors that are eligible to open in Phase 1. In my May 20th blog, I discussed the Safety Standards for Laboratories. Since that blog was posted, the State has clarified that offices associated with laboratories must comply with The Safety Standards for Office Spaces. Like the Safety Standards for Laboratories, these standards are organized around four categories: social distancing, hygiene protocols, cleaning and disinfecting, and staffing and operations.

Social Distancing

Social distancing requirements for offices include limiting occupancy within the office space to no more than 25% of the maximum occupancy limit specified in the certificate of occupancy, or the typical occupancy as of March 1, 2020. Any business or other organization that has been operating as a “COVID-19 Essential […]

June 7th, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , |
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Are Workplace-Related COVID-19 Cases Recordable and Reportable?

On April 10, 2020, OSHA published interim guidance regarding the enforcement of employers’ obligation to record and report employees’ COVID-19 cases.

The OSHA guidance recognizes that determining whether an employee contracted COVID-19 at work will often be difficult, and because of this, relaxed COVID-19-related recordkeeping obligations for many employers.

However, for employers of workers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting, law enforcement services), and correctional institutions, COVID-19 is a recordable illness.

These employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19, if:

  • The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by theCDC
  • The case is work-related as defined by the OSHA standard on recording and reporting occupational injuries and illnesses 29 CFR 1904.5 and
  • The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness.

For other employers, including […]

May 16th, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , , |
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SARS-CoV-2: Determining Your Employees’ Exposure Risk Level

OSHA recently issued a guidance document on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 that focuses on determining employees’ risk of occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in order to identify the appropriate control measures that can be put in place to protect employees from exposure.

OSHA has divided job tasks into four risk exposure levels:

Very high exposure risk

Jobs with high potential for exposure to known or suspected sources of COVID-19 during specific medical, postmortem, or laboratory procedures. Workers in this category include healthcare workers (e.g., doctors, nurses, EMTs) performing aerosol generating procedures (e.g., intubation, cough induction procedures, invasive specimen collection); healthcare or laboratory personnel collecting or handling specimens from known or suspected COVID-19 patients; and morgue workers performing autopsies on people known or suspected of having COVID-19.

 High exposure risk

Jobs with high potential for exposure to known or suspected sources of COVID-19. Workers in this category include healthcare and support staff (e.g., doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff who […]

May 6th, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , , , |
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New Watertown Regulation: Biotechnology and the Use of Recombinant DNA Molecule Technology

Watertown announced yesterday that due to the COVID-19 emergency they will be ​postponing the effective date of their new regulation (Biotechnology and the Use of Recombinant DNA Molecule Technology) from May 1 until July 1, 2020. Existing facilities located in Watertown​ will have one year from the effective date to come into compliance.

Overall, the new regulation is similar to other cities and towns in the area. One difference is that Watertown will be regulating non-recombinant DNA (rDNA) research involving biologic agents at Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) and Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3). (BSL-4 work is prohibited in Watertown.) Examples of agents at BSL-2 include non-recombinant work with Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, Hepatitis B, and Herpes Simplex Virus. BSL-2 agents can also include toxins of biological origin requiring BSL-2.  In comparison, Cambridge, Lexington, and Boston only regulate biologic agents at BSL-3.

The Watertown regulations do not apply to finished products which contain rDNA molecules and which have been approved by other government regulatory […]

April 16th, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , |
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Hazard and Risk Analysis

The terms risk and hazard are used often in the safety world, many times interchangeably. They have very different meanings, however, and when using these terms, care should be taken to use them appropriately. When evaluating a process or procedure, assigning these terms appropriately can help simplify the safety assessment process.

What is a hazard?

A hazard refers to a potential source of harm. Examples can include chemical, biological, radiological, and physical hazards. Toxic chemicals, infectious biologics, and moving mechanical parts are all different types of hazards. The hazard level of a particular item or condition is static, meaning it does not vary. However, it can be evaluated relative to other hazards. Simply put, a hazard is a material or condition that can have an adverse effect on a person’s health or physical property.

What is risk?

Risk is the potential for interaction with a hazard. Generally speaking, risk is referenced in relative […]

April 3rd, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , , , , |
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Biennial Reports Are Due March 1, 2020!

 

If your facility is registered with the MA DEP as a Large Quantity Generator (LQG) of hazardous waste, don’t forget that 2020 is a year when biennial reports must be filed.  Biennial reports are due by March 1st of even numbered years for any facility that exceeded the LQG threshold during the preceding odd numbered year, even if your facility is no longer registered as an LQG.  Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) are also required to report every two years.

Biennial reports provide the DEP with information on the quantity and nature of the hazardous waste that was generated in the previous year and whether the waste was sent for recycling, treatment, storage, or disposal. As of 2018, biennial reports need to be filed electronically using the RCRAInfo Industry Application. The electronic submission includes the following:

  • RCRA Subtitle C Site Identification Form
  • Waste Generation and Management (GM) Form
  • Waste Received From Off-Site (WR) Form, and […]
February 19th, 2020|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , , |
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How to Protect Your Company From OSHA HazCom Violations

Did you know that violations related to the OSHA Hazard Communication standard ranked #2 in the OSHA top 10 list for most frequently cited violations in 2018? Common citations included not having a written program or safety data sheets (SDS) for all chemicals, lack of employee training, and deficiencies related to secondary container labels.

What can you do to protect your company from HazCom violations? Employers are responsible for ensuring that the labels and SDSs are readily available to all employees.  They are also responsible for training employees on how to properly recognize the hazards associated with chemicals and how to properly handle the chemicals based on the hazards conveyed.  For laboratories that use chemicals this specifically means that employers must ensure that:

  • Labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals are not removed or defaced. Incoming container labels must include the identity of the hazardous chemical(s), appropriate pictograms and signal word, and hazard and precautionary statements.
  • Labels […]
June 19th, 2019|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , , , , |
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Did You Know About Planned Changes to the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard?

OSHA has been involved with a long-term project to be aligned with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classifying chemical hazards and providing labels and safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals. OSHA incorporated the GHS system into the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) in March 2012 to specify requirements for hazard classification and to standardize label components and information on safety data sheets, in an effort to enhance both employer and worker comprehension of hazards and facilitate international compliance.

The GHS has been updated several times since OSHA’s 2012 rulemaking which was based on the third edition of the GHS and the United Nations recently completed the seventh edition. OSHA is now in the process of conducting rulemaking to harmonize the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to the latest edition of the GHS and to codify a number of enforcement policies that have been issued since the 2012 standard. OSHA has recently published a new Proposed Rule “Update […]

June 12th, 2019|Categories: Insights|Tags: , , , |
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