Image of the ZYPAD wrist wearable computer from Arcom Control Systems (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Future Environment Designs Training Center specializes in asbestos, indoor air quality, industrial hygiene, and occupational safety training programs. We offer New York State asbestos and mold certification courses. We design, develop, and maintain the various indoor air quality, asbestos, and safety programs that are Keeping Your Employees Safe.
Search This Blog
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Wearable Technology In the Workplace
We just read the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH's) Science Blog regarding "The Future of Wearable Technology in the Workplace". Wearable technology includes things like Fitbit, Jawbone, and things like Google glass or Microsoft's just announced HoloLens. The potential to use wearable technology in the workplace to provide occupational safety and health information at the moment would be really useful. Though the potential for distracted workers and some workers having health issues using the technology should give pause in rolling it out too quickly. Considering all the new technology we've been keeping up with, we are very interested in seeing where wearable technology brings the occupational safety and health field. Maybe some accidents could be prevented with the wearable technology.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Mold Legislation Threatens Restoration/Remediation Industries
The New Year
wasn't very old before the restoration/mold industry was beset with concerns
regarding new regulations and legislation.
The first, Nassau County in New York State started requiring licensing for companies and
owners of those companies who are environmental hazard remediation providers,
this legislation Local Law No. 13-2014 was voted on by the County Legislature
on September 22, 2014 and signed by County Executive Ed Mangano on September
25, 2014 (Thank you Mark Drozdov for the info). The second item, on December
30 New York State's "Licensing of Mold Inspection, Assessment andRemediation Specialists and Minimum Work Standards" legislation was
presented to Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign.
The Governor has until January 29 to either sign it, or veto it or he
can let it expire (called a pocket veto) (Thank you Chris Alonge for the info.).
There is a
growing group of industry individuals who feel that Governor Cuomo should veto
the NYS legislation. Many feel it is
poorly written and have major issues with it.
Some examples include the definition of mold (to narrow a definition),
NYS Department of Labor is charged with writing rules and regulations for
overseeing the practices of assessment & remediation (it should be either
the NYS Department of Health or NYS Department of Environmental Conservation),
and does not mention or exempt a minimum quantity. In our opinion, the law does use existing
infrastructure to create the rules and regulations, recognizes conflict of interest
issues, and leaves the details of the procedures up to the agencies who already
have experience handling the restoration/remediation industry and provides some
minimum procedures. The law puts the
responsibility for creating the details to NYS Department of Health and the NYS
Department of Labor. Both agencies already regulate the asbestos industry and have the experience to create, write, and enforce the potential rules and regulations to handle this industry. Our feeling this legislation is better than the Nassau County legislation, and our concern is that we might get one like the Nassau County law.
Nassau's Local Law is meant to address problems that happened after Super Storm Sandy |
Nassau County Local Law No. 13-2014 requires "Licensing of Environmental Hazard Remediation Providers" or in another words environmental contractors. However, environmental contractors are defined "any person who or legal entity that, contracts with an owner or an owner's agent to inspect a suspected environmental hazard or to implement any measure or measures that result in the remediation of an environmental hazard in a building." This definition means both consultants and contractors have to be licensed. Even more amazing is the definition of Environmental hazard. "Environmental hazard(s) means any condition that constitutes an indoor air quality violation as defined by any United States statue or regulation, any New York State Law or regulation, any local law or any regulation promulgated by the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, and which hazard was caused by fire, flood, storm, chemical spills, dust, sewage, mold, pathogens or other biological contaminants and not caused by the presence of asbestos or lead." There are so many statements in this definitions that we're not totally sure what is or isn't covered.
The Local Law 13-2014 requires two licenses, environmental contractors have to get the Environmental Hazard Remediation Provider (EHRP) License ($1,000 for a two year license, renewal fee is $500 every two years) and the Environmental Hazard Remediation Technician (EHRT) License ($100 for two year license, every two years) shall be issued to an EHRP or their principal(s) and any person employed by, seeking employment by or under contract to a EHRP for the purpose of environmental hazard assessment and environmental hazard remediation. It does allow an EHRT to supervise up to 10 unlicensed employees or contractors performing a remediation or remediations. To get the EHRT license you must have taken and be current/in effect Certifications:
The Local Law 13-2014 requires two licenses, environmental contractors have to get the Environmental Hazard Remediation Provider (EHRP) License ($1,000 for a two year license, renewal fee is $500 every two years) and the Environmental Hazard Remediation Technician (EHRT) License ($100 for two year license, every two years) shall be issued to an EHRP or their principal(s) and any person employed by, seeking employment by or under contract to a EHRP for the purpose of environmental hazard assessment and environmental hazard remediation. It does allow an EHRT to supervise up to 10 unlicensed employees or contractors performing a remediation or remediations. To get the EHRT license you must have taken and be current/in effect Certifications:
- OSHA Safety Standards for Construction or General Industry - minimum 10 hours
- NYS Asbestos Handler - minimum 32 hours
- EPA Lead Worker - minimum 16 hours. Lead RRP is NOT sufficient
- Hazardous Waste Operations (HAZWOPER) - minimum 40 hours
- Microbial Remediation - minimum 24 hours
- Water damage restoration - minimum 20 hours or Institute of Inspection, Cleaning Restoration Certification (IICRC) WRT Certification
- Fire damage restoration - minimum 16 hours or IICRC FSRT Certification
- PCB Awareness - minimum 4 hours
- Bloodborne pathogens - minimum 4 hours
- Infection control risk assessment - minimum 4 hours
- Proof of a valid lead and asbestos abatement licenses.
The above list consists of 170 hours of training. It is interesting to note to get an asbestos abatement license you need to take an NYS asbestos supervisor - minimum 40 hours and to get the EPA Lead Remediation License you must be an EPA lead supervisor - minimum 32 hours. Nowhere in this list of topics is a supervisor course, considering that the EHRT will be allowed to supervise up to 10 unlicensed employees/contractors that seems very lacking. In addition, there is no assessment class in this list. Most of us in the industry would agree that this list should be the minimum training for the remediation workers in the restoration/remediation industry. This list should not be the training requirements for the principals/supervising employees of an EHRP. In our opinion, EHRP principals/supervising employees should have a minimum certification from American Council for Accredited Certifications, American Board of Industrial Hygiene, Board of Certified Safety Professionals, or another national, non-profit certifying body which:
- is accredited by the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB) and/or the American National Standards Institute under ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024, and
- is wholly independent from training organizations, membership organizations, and industry trade associations.
- Individuals or legal entities shall not conduct environmental assessments for a period of one year on projects for which they have conducted environmental remediation services.
- Individuals or legal entities shall not conduct environmental remediations for a period of one year on projects for which they have conducted environmental assessments.
Thursday, January 01, 2015
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Future Environment Designs (FED) want to take this time to wish you all a Happy New Year! We hope 2015 is as good as you wish it to be and it is a safe and healthy one. At Future Environment Designs, its another year of staying the course. Our prices for asbestos refresher courses have not changed since 2007 and that will continue in 2015. Over the years we started several initiatives which will also continue in 2015. Our Safety Suzy Newsletter, which provides you with information regarding changes in Indoor Air Quality (asbestos, mold, lead, etc.) requirements, construction safety requirements, respirator use and fit testing, OSHA regulations, and NYS indoor air quality and construction safety regulations will continue. We provide a loyalty discount to our clients who do their training with us every year and provide a referral discount to those who refer work to us (these discounts can be added together, see your monthly Safety Suzy Newsletter for details).
In 2015 we will continue the following improvements:
We look forward to seeing all of you in 2015, Happy New Year!
In 2015 we will continue the following improvements:
- Future Environment Design's mobile site, will allow you to view upcoming courses and download safety resources in phone-friendly formats. Your suggestions and feedback can help shape the experience. Visit our website with your mobile device through this link: http://www.futureenvironmentdesigns.com/index.html.
- Future Environment Designs used to provide students in our classes with a course CD called the FED Training CD. This CD had all the regulations and other helpful information. With modern technology and advent of the cloud technology, we now provide a link to our dropbox folder that contains all this information. You can find that link at: http://futureenvironmentdesigns.com/resources.html.
- Future Environment Designs is working on an app that we hope will be ready in time for the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PACNY's) 19th Annual Environmental Conference at Turning Stone Casino.
- Gloveguard (see below) is a product designed to help workers keep their work gloves close to them and increase their use. Future Environment Designs is providing these to our students to help them keep their gloves with them and increase their use.
We look forward to seeing all of you in 2015, Happy New Year!
Related articles
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Merry Christmas, One and All!
We wish you all a Merry and Joyous Christmas!
Thank you to all of you who attended training with us or who we consulted with in 2014.
We look forward to serving you in 2015!
From all us at Future Environment Designs, Inc
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Legionella Found in Windshield Washer Fluid
Windshield washer fluid (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Arizona State University research was conducted by Otto Schwake, an Arizona State University student pursuing a doctoral degree in Microbiology under the supervision of Morteza Abbaszadegan, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Although windshield washer fluid was not normally associated with spreading disease, this research was begun after a series of epidemiological studies found motor vehicle use to be associated with increased risk for Legionnaires' disease. One such study attributed nearly 20% of Legionnaires' disease cases in the United Kingdom not associated with hospitals or outbreaks to automobile windshield washer fluid.
Based on a recent webinar held by EMLab P&K featuring the Dr. Harriet Burge, Legionella is a gram negative bacterium that is a widely distributed natural inhabitants of water and is common in many environments. It is heat loving and will proliferate in temperatures between 20 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius. Growth is promoted by other micro organisms. Legionella is the causative agent of Legionellosis (Legionnaires' disease and Pontiac fever).
The first recognized outbreak of Legionnaires disease occurred in Philadelphia in 1976. As many as 221 people were treated and 34 deaths occurred. The source was identified as the Legionella bacterium and found in the cooling tower of the hotel's air conditioning system. Over 90% of legionelloses are caused by Legionella pneumophila.
English: A silver stain of Legionella pneumophila , the bacteria that causes Legionellosis. Although I got this image from a commercial website it is clearly labeled as from the CDC. This website routinely uses images from Wikipedia, which is a good thing, so no issue should be taken with using an presumably public domain image from their website. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
- Pontiac Fever: respiratory illness without pneumonia, symptoms resemble acute influenza
- Legionnaires' Disease: symptoms include fever, chills, cough, muscle achees, headache, tiredness, loss of appetite, loss of coordination (ataxia), and occasionally diarrhea & vomiting.
Related Articles:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Chrysotile Asbestos Banned? More Like Certain Conditions of Use Will Be Eventually Banned!
Many of you, as did I, read about the " Ban of Chrysotile Asbestos " and rejoiced over something long overdue. However, after rea...
-
… … … This debate regarding asbestos floor tiles started at the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's ...
-
We attended the Environmental Information Association (EIA) 2022 National Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona from March 20, thro...
-
Future Environment Designs Training Center (FEDTC) was a Sapphire Sponsor for the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PAC...