Page 58 - Occupational Health & Safety, May 2018

CHEMICAL SAFETY/SDS
A Holistic Approach to On-Site Chemical Management
Technology can help streamline and standardize complex processes, centralize data and corresponding analyses, make reporting easier, and eliminate silos between departments.
BY IAN COHEN
54 Occupational Health & Safety | MAY 2018
www.ohsonline.com
Chemicals present a real risk to employee health and the environment if they are mis- used or accidentally spilled. To safeguard against these risks, companies employ a
team of people, including industrial hygienists, oc- cupational health teams, and environmental and safety professionals. To help facilitate communication among these different disciplines and to ensure regu- latory compliance, many companies are turning to technology to help better manage on-site chemicals.
Working Together
Chemical management requires EHS professionals to break down silos and work together. Working in silos can be disastrous, so it’s important that people are communicating with one another. Everyone in the organization must be working toward the same two goals:
■ Ensuring safe working conditions for employees
■ Complying with state/provincial and federal EHS regulations
To make your chemical management program successful, it’s important to identify the program goals, continuously evaluate what is and isn’t working, and communicate with and train your employees.
Identify program goals
Whether you’re just developing your chemical management program or you’re looking for ways to improve an existing program, it’s critical to first iden- tify goals and then develop performance measures to track the effectiveness of your programs. Remember to define time-bound program activities, determine what resources are needed and how you’re going to communicate with employees, and identify the perti- nent regulations that cover your program.
Continuously evaluate the program
Most of us are familiar with the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” model for management systems. It’s important for EHS professionals to constantly review their pro- grams to ensure that they are functioning as intended and identify opportunities for continuous improve- ment. You should conduct a visual tour of your facility on a regular basis to determine whether the chemical management program is working and that employees are following all of the policies and procedures that were put in place, such as PPE requirements, safe han-
dling and disposal procedures, and compliance with known EHS regulations. As part of the initial program development, you should have developed key perfor- mance measures to track the progress of the program, so these should be reviewed on a regular basis to de- termine whether there are issues that need to be ad- dressed, such as worker injuries and illnesses, spills, and notices of violation.
Communicate with and train employees
For a program to be effective, you must communi- cate with employees at all levels of the organization. As you’re developing your program, determine who the stakeholders are and identify what messages are perti- nent to each audience. Remember, what you tell senior managers may not be the right message for front-line employees, and vice versa. It’s important to leverage existing communication channels to share informa- tion and provide ongoing updates to employees.
For example, you’ll want to send out communi- cations when there are large projects going on at the site, such as site upgrades or expansions, to remind employees and contractors of proper procedures and alert them to any risks associated with the work. Dur- ing these times, it’s always a good idea to send out reminders about proper PPE, safe chemical handling, and proper storage or disposal of chemicals. Be sure to time these communications appropriately; too many and people ignore the information, too few and events could occur.
In addition to ongoing communications, it’s im- portant to make sure that people working on site are properly trained to use PPE, handle chemicals, and dispose of chemicals and fully understand the emer- gency response plans that are in place. This is not only a best practice, but also required by local, state/pro- vincial, and federal laws and regulations.
The Value of Technology in
Chemical Management
It’s now more imperative than ever before that EHS professionals leverage technology to help them bet- ter manage on-site chemicals. Technology can help streamline and standardize complex processes, cen- tralize data and corresponding analyses, make internal and external reporting easier, and most importantly, eliminate silos between departments. Below are five ways technology can help improve how you manage