Southwest Area Safety Association

WELCOME WINN CONSTRUCTION as the newest member to SASA. We look forward to working with you and sincerely hope you find membership in SASA a rewarding investment.

Points to ponder----Dogs frequently lose their sense of smell in cold weather and can become lost as they may not be able to follow their scent back to their home. Never let your dog off its' leash on snow or ice. The cold will impact their sense of smell. Approximately 5 - 20% of the U.S. population comes down with the seasonal flu. Late fall through early spring are usually when the worst outbreaks occur. A residential fire occurs in the United States at a rate of one every 82 seconds. Guard against residential fires by keeping candles or open flames away from curtains or drapes. Instruct children to never play with matches and keep oily rags in a metal container, away from combustibles; until such time the rags can be cleaned or destroyed. Being immobile for a prolonged period of time (driving for long periods, passenger in an airplane) combined with other factors may trigger DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis),resulting in a pulmonary embolism possibly causing death. NBC News reporter David Bloom died from this after riding in a cramped tank during the Irag War.  

GHS-Related Changes in HAZCOM - Impact on Safety Managers 
Hazard Communication (HAZCOM) standards related to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling (GHS) solution are expected to change. Significant changes to current standards due to GHS solutions include changes in:
MSDS Sheets: The proposed rule crops off 'Material' to offer a new name, which is, Safety Data Sheet; and also specifies a particular format in which to maintain them. This specificity will standardize the SDS and also list each component of a material. In the long run, the greatest benefit of this will be easier employee training.
Labeling: In most labeling systems, '1' signified least hazardous chemicals while '4' ranked most hazardous. Conversely, the new GHS solution specifies a chemical ranked '1' as being most hazardous and '5' being the least. For a safety manager, this new labeling system will pose a challenge: that of downstream communication of these changes. Meanwhile, manufacturers will have to create and submit revised MSDS sheets to ensure compliance with standards as well as companies.
Training: Employees will need to be trained to comprehend the new content and format of SDS in terms of classifications, pictograms, labels and signal words. Of course, in the long run, this will help to create standardized training modules and help employees to understand HAZCOM more accurately, but it will be quite a task for the safety manager to execute now. The NRPM has proposed a window of two years for training and three for full transition for companies to implement the new HAZCOM standards. At the end of this period, all MSDS (then SDS) will have to meet the format requirements and ensure compliance. Until then, both current and new systems will be accepted. For safety managers, this translates into 2011 being the year of transition planning. Watch OSHA's timetables, prepare the management, leverage the chemical data management system and fix a timeframe to ensure smooth transition. The more detailed the planning, the more efficient the execution, the easier it will be to ensure success and mitigate risk.