Research Shows 8 Trends Affecting EHS
Phylmar's Mark Katchen One of 42 Contributing Experts
Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for Classification and Labeling Non-Governmental Organizations: A Growing Trend For Additional Information...
Non-Governmental Organizations: A Growing Trend 
In mid-August, Industrial Safety and Hygiene News (ISHN) Editor, Dave Johnson, asked Mark Katchen to join a group of EHS advisors to select what they thought to be the biggest national EHS stories of the past 12-18 months. The results, according to Johnson, "highlighted eight trends that will touch almost every EHS professional.?
In short, these trends include:
Globalization; Management Systems; Non-governmental Organizations; Corporate social responsibility; Failure of the feds; No place to hide (The Internet has drastically diminished the size of the EHS world. Daily news alerts give global publicity to minor workplace accidents that never would have been reported beyond local newspapers.; Lean operators/staffing; and Culture cures (lack of communication, procedure). And, while many of Phylmar?s clients and affiliates recognize Globalization, Management Systems, and Corporate Social Responsibility as three of the areas for which Phylmar has considerable expertise, Phylmar keeps a close watch on all trends that affect our broad EHS/SR community in order to provide sound counsel and aid clients in implementing strategic solutions. An example of an area that Phylmar closely monitors are Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). "There are an estimated two million NGOs in the U.S. today and thousands more all over the world," according to the ISHN article.
These non-profit, non-governmental organizations, "lobby, pressure and take direct action mostly on social, cultural, legal and environmental goals."
"The burgeoning influence of non-governmental organizations on the behavior of corporations as it relates to EHS and social responsibility," reported Katchen, "is arguably greater in certain parts of the world than the local government." "In some cases," he continued, "the NGO can make or break a brand through their media channels. In many cases the NGOs have forced corporations operating in Third World areas to develop codes of conduct and audit their supply chain against these codes."
Phylmar is working with a number of global clients to understand both the governmental regulations and those additional requirements imposed by the local NGOs. "Our clients cannot afford to underestimate the power and influence of an NGO." says Kathen. At Phylmar we recommend that our clients engage NGOs while developing processes, procedures, and safeguards rather than wait for them to react to an unexpected or negative event.
For a copy of the full ISHN article or to discuss any of the trends listed above, please contact Phylmar President, Mark Katchen.
For Additional Information... Please contact any one of the following Phlymar Client Advisors for information and/or project management in these areas:
Industrial Hygiene, Risk Management, Mark Katchen
Client Advisor, OSH Regulatory Matters, Elizabeth Treanor
Social Responsibility, Code of Conduct, Patrick Neyts
Occupational Safety and Health, John Hall
EHS Management Systems, John French
Developing and Implementing EHS Program Strategies, Mike Bercilla
Food Safety and Product Development, Risa Schulman
For general inquiries or to schedule a strategic planning session, please contact Lorie Raileanu.
OSHA, other Federal agencies, and stakeholder representatives have participated in long-term international negotiations to develop a Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS has been adopted by the United Nations, and there is an international goal for as many countries as possible to implement the GHS by 2008. The GHS includes harmonized provisions for classification of chemicals for their health, physical, and environmental effects, as well as for labels on containers and safety data sheets (SDS). Adoption of the GHS by OSHA would require modifications to the Agency's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS).
On 12 September 2006, OSHA provided further information about the GHS, the benefits of adopting it, and its potential impact on the HCS, and the Agency is seeking input from the public on a number of issues related to GHS implementation (comments must be submitted by 13 November 2006).
It appears from a preliminary review that the main areas in which the HCS is likely to change are labels, health hazard definitions, hazard determination, and order of information on the SDS. Sensitizers will be addressed in a different way, and the standard may affect eyewash requirements as well, as the definitions and classifications of categories and chemicals have changed.
For additional information, including OSHA-defined benefits of GHS and the scope of its application, please contact Senior Client Advisor and PRR Moderator, Elizabeth Treanor.
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