Tips for making the transition in GHS compliance as June 1 deadline approaches.

Industrial end users – from plant, operations, and maintenance managers to janitorial and sanitation supervisors to environmental health and safety (EHS) compliance officers – must now ask if their chemical labels are GHS compliant.

According to OSHA, the new standard covers over 43 million workers who produce or handle hazardous chemicals in more than five million workplaces across the country.
GHS compliance is even required for chemical formulations purchased in bulk containers for cost savings, such as barrels of industrial cleaner, that are transferred to smaller “down-packed” containers, such as spray bottles, for portable use.

In the U.S., OSHA set a June 1, 2016 deadline for end users to update their workplace labels. If compliance is lacking, industrial end users must be prepared to document for OSHA their good faith efforts to become compliant, including an expected timeline for achieving it.

In Canada, a multi-year transition plan has been announced for the implementation of GHS. From now until May 31, 2017 suppliers (manufacturers and importers) can use WHMIS 1988 or WHMIS 2015 to classify and communicate the hazards of their products (suppliers must use one system or the other). Beginning June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018, distributors and suppliers importing for their own use can continue to use WHMIS 1988 or WHMIS 2015.

The “Globally Harmonized System” (GHS) was established by the United Nations to create a unified system for identifying and communicating hazardous chemicals. According to OSHA, the new standard covers over 43 million workers who produce or handle hazardous chemicals in more than five million workplaces across the country.

GHS compliance is even required for chemical formulations purchased in bulk containers for cost savings, such as barrels of industrial cleaner, that are transferred to smaller “down-packed” containers, such as spray bottles, for portable use. Container sizes requiring GHS-compliant labeling generally range from 55-gallon drums down to spray bottles and even small samples or test vials.

In an industrial setting, chemical formulations that could require GHS labeling range from industrial primers, coatings, and sealants to lubricants, greases, cutting oils, and rust removers to acid, alkaline, and solvent based cleaners to degreasers, surfactants, disinfectants, and sanitizers.

With a GHS deadline looming for industrial end users, here are six tips to quickly get up to speed on GHS regulation and ensure compliance for even smaller “down-packed” chemical container labeling.

1) Have GHS-compliant safety data sheets and labels and train workers to handle hazardous chemicals properly. On each GHS label, six items of data are required: Product Name or Identifier; Hazard Statement; Signal Word; GHS Pictogram symbols; Precautionary Statement; and Supplier Information.

Instead of the familiar black and white pictogram symbols previously used in safety labeling, GHS labels now require pictogram symbols that convey hazard information with a red diamond border.

2) Label all secondary containers. If a chemical is supplied to the workplace with a GHS label, it must be maintained. If the chemical is transferred to a secondary container, such as a tank or spray bottle that stays in the workplace, employers may label it with information from the original GHS shipping label or safety data sheet.

However, employers may choose to use an alternate system such as the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Standard 704 or the American Coatings Association (ACA)’s Hazardous Materials Identification System (HMIS). If using an alternate system, the employer must ensure the information is consistent with GHS and that workers understand specific physical and health hazards.

If a chemical is transferred to a “portable” secondary container, such as a dropper bottle, for use only by the person who transferred it during the same work shift, a label is not required because it is considered “immediate use.”

3) Save on printing with durable label options on demand. For those currently using HMIS or NFPA labels for in-plant containers, related written documentation, and training, the question is how to achieve GHS compliance and integrate it with HMIS or NFPA, which have been used for decades.

Though differences exist in GHS, HMIS and NFPA, such as opposite numbering for GHS level of hazard, OSHA allows employers to use HMIS and NFPA in the workplace as long as they are consistent with GHS (HCS 2012) and workers are properly trained for GHS.

Implementing GHS labeling can seem daunting to industrial end users, but does not have to be. Many are turning to flexible, lower cost options, such as industrial-grade labels from Avery that allow printing durable GHS, HMIS, or hybrid labels on demand with existing laser printers and certain inkjet printers.

While Avery has been a leading office label brand for decades, it has recently expanded into the industrial market with industrial-grade labels for GHS compliance, such as its UltraDuty GHS Chemical Labels. Unlike standard labels, industrial labels are used in harsh environments like warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and in the field so must be very durable and able to withstand exposure to chemicals, abrasion, tearing, moisture, sunlight, and extreme temperatures.

4) Meet rugged GHS industrial requirements to stay compliant. The challenge is that to be GHS compliant, labels must stay reliably affixed without fading or becoming unreadable despite harsh indoor or outdoor conditions including exposure to chemicals, moisture, and spills.

Some industrial label companies have designed their labels to meet rigorous GHS requirements. For instance, Avery’s UltraDuty GHS Chemical Labels are chemical resistant, tear resistant, abrasion resistant, and constructed with a marine-grade adhesive that is waterproof and passes a 90-day seawater submersion adhesion test.

Unlike typical labels, which crack and harden in harsh conditions, the GHS labels are UV resistant with 2+ years of outdoor UV life. They are also temperature resistant, can be applied as low as 10° F, and used between -20° F to 220° F when printed from color laser printers or -40° F to 300° F when printed from pigment-based inkjet printers.

“Staying GHS compliant will not only help industrial end users avoid OSHA fines, sanctions, or auditing, but also position them ahead of the curve if other industry standards are allowed to sunset,” says Glenn Hallett, President of RightAnswer.com, Inc., a chemical compliance and information specialist.

Hallett notes that remaining GHS label compliant depends on the durability of the appropriate label substrate, getting the label content right, and effective document management.

“Companies in industrial settings that have long used HMIS labels will now also want the ability to print GHS labels, HMIS labels, NFPA labels or some alternative that will accommodate their requirements,” says Hallett. “Such flexibility will help ease the industry’s transition to GHS labeling and minimize any operational disruption.”

5) Take advantage of free label-printing software. Avery, for instance, provides such GHS, HMIS, and NFPA-compliant label software at no cost. The company’s Design & Print GHS Wizard allows employees to create and print their own GHS and HMIS labels from pre-designed templates. They can create on demand labels step-by-step at their desk, as well as create GHS and HMIS hybrid labels capable of satisfying both systems. Most employees find such a process intuitive, since it resembles creating an office document from pre-designed templates.

The software includes the pictograms and GHS compliant statements needed for GHS labeling; allows customizable text; insertion of company logo or other images; generation of 18 types of barcodes; and a sequential numbering feature to add lot numbers or other variable data.

No download is required since the software operates from Avery’s website, and GHS, HMIS, and NFPA labels can be securely saved online or to a computer. The software is also capable of printing other safety labels such as OSHA, ANSI, and DOT labels.

6) Choose GHS labels that work with the full range of container sizes and container surface types. GHS and HMIS labels such as Avery’s are available in a range of sizes to fit drums, totes, pails, cans, jugs, containers, and even small bottles. They can be applied to a variety of surfaces such as metal, plastic, glass, ceramic, polycarbonate, painted surfaces, and more. Similar to the company’s office labels, the GHS and HMIS labels offer Easy Peel, smudge-free, and jam-free capability.

For labeling that requires the durability of extra lamination, the company also offers Easy Align Self-Laminating ID Labels, which come with a clear laminate so no lamination machine or additional layer of tape is needed. The material is UV and water resistant, and resists scuffing, tearing and smudging, making the labels suitable in production, warehouse, maintenance and repair areas, as well as other industrial worksites.

To help companies stay compliant for GHS, HMIS, and other regulatory situations, including OSHA safety communication, Avery has partnered with RightAnswer. Through a portal in Avery’s website, RightAnswer offers comprehensive online access to over 100 proprietary, government, and EHS data sources with over 11 million documents covering more than 400,000 chemical substances, all integrated and available through a single interface.

“For industrial companies that keep asking EHS managers to do more with less, Avery’s partnering with RightAnswer can help them stay not only GHS, HMIS, and NFPA label compliant, but also up to date on the chemical issues they’re concerned about,” says Hallett. “It’s an online one-stop chemical compliance and information solution that’s offered at a discount through the Avery website portal.”

For more info, visit www.avery.com/GHS.
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By Del Williams

Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, California.

Simplifying Safety During Planned Shutdowns
Single source for safety-related product and services can reduce complexity, cost of STOs

Planned STOs (shutdowns, turnarounds and outages) are often scheduled for preventative maintenance and new equipment installation that must be performed to keep a plant running and in regulatory compliance. To minimize production downtime, this work must be completed within a very tight time frame. As such, STOs are often feats of engineering, planning and coordination – work that begins many months, even years, before the event.

At the top of the list during any planned shutdown is safety. To prevent injury or loss of life, reduce liability, and keep insurance rates in check, safety departments must provide the required safety training, products and services that will ensure that all on-site personnel and company assets are protected throughout the scope of the operation.

Managing all that encompasses “safety” for an STO, however, is often a feat of its own.

During an STO, a typical facility can see its ranks swell from 50 to perhaps 200-300 additional workers that the safety department must properly equip, train, and provide rescue and standby emergency services. This often requires managing multiple vendors of safety products and services as well as dealing direct with workers that are not familiar with the facility or its processes and are performing challenging, even high-risk, tasks.

Now, in a move designed to eliminate a point of complexity and coordination in an already complicated process, some facility safety departments are outsourcing to a single combined safety service provider that can deliver the entire gamut of safety-related products and services.

The benefit of this one-stop-shop approach for a planned shutdown is the single point of coordination, reduction in facility personnel required to manage the safety effort, access to extensive safety expertise and technical knowledge, potential cost savings on basic and more advanced PPE (personal protective equipment), and ability to respond quickly to unexpected situations or emergencies.

Safety First
Despite the focus on speedy return-to-service, those that have participated in planned shutdowns will attest that the primary emphasis is not how “fast” the work is completed, but rather ensuring the safety of all involved. This is not mere lip service, but the prime directive, even if that means going over budget or delaying the project.

“Safety is number one,” says Kevin Nadolski, Safety Director at Duke & Duke Services. “Well before any of the work starts, the project managers are holding safety meetings and orienting employees on safety. This occurs both before and during the project, with managers reviewing daily reports about how many personnel are working, what they are doing, and if any are hurt they want to know exactly what happened.”

As Safety Director, Nadolski has utilized a number of PPE providers and safety service companies over the course of his career. Duke & Duke Services provides installation and maintenance of conveyor systems, bulk handling equipment, presses, cranes, robotics and other automated machinery, often during STOs.

He admits that the concept of a single, combined safety service provider is a novel concept in an industry where suppliers generally keep to well-defined market segments with minimal overlap. Large PPE providers, for example, offer catalogues with thousands of products, but rarely offer safety services – and vice versa.

Outsourcing Safety
Nadolski first began outsourcing to a company that was later acquired by DXP Safety Services while working at a prior job, and has continued to use the company throughout the five years he has been employed as safety director at Duke & Duke.

DXP Services is a multinational company that has grown significantly while aggressively pursuing new acquisitions. The company now operates as a single provider of combined safety (products + services) for plant turnarounds.

In addition to an extensive catalogue of PPE items, the company maintains a large asset base of equipment including powered air trailers, supplied air trailers, emergency showers, eye wash equipment, MROP (Maintenance, Repair, Operations, and Production) trailers, fire trucks and ambulances.

DXP also offers a comprehensive list of services, including safety training and supervision, confined space attendants and rescue teams, high angle rescue teams, rope rescue, gas detection, respiratory fit testing, audiometric testing, industrial hygiene, industrial medical services, fall protection, and repair services.

In 2015, Nadolski estimates he has already used DXP a dozen times for onsite safety supervision, emergency response, confined space attendants, and supplied air trailers. He also utilizes DXP to train employees that most complete annual confined space training.

“What I appreciate most is that when they send their guys out for rescue work, I know they are well-trained,” says Nadolski. “I still spot check them and ask them ‘what do you do if this happens?’ questions, but they know it right off the bat. I don’t always get that with other safety services.”

Single-Source Benefits
The benefits of a one-stop-shop approach to safety begins well before the STO. As part of the pre-planning, a safety advisor from a combined service provider meets with facility safety and maintenance personnel to learn about their existing procedures and processes. For shorter projects this can be 2-4 weeks beforehand, or for a more complex project 12-18 months in advance.

The safety advisor then evaluates and monitors safety hazards, and control strategies to ensure compliance with the facility’s safety rules, policies, programs, criteria and procedures as well as all governmental regulations.

Given the unique requirements of each facility, there are no one-size-fits-all safety plans so each project is client-specific. In addition, the scope of involvement can be scaled from a single worker to a complete program for the entire scope of the STO.

Another benefit to this approach is the ability to react to unexpected situations or emergencies. Although a tremendous amount of planning goes into a planned shutdown there are inevitably situations, requirements for specialized equipment, unexpected air quality issues, and even injuries that can leave safety personnel scrambling. With the breadth and scope of its expertise, a combined safety services company can tap into its resources quickly to resolve the situation.

In this regard, Nadolski says he relies on DXP to serve as an extra pair of “eyes” on the ground when he is not at the site. “We have been in situations where we have needed something safety-related on the spot and DXP was able to take care of it for us.”

For More Information, contact DXP Safety Services at 7272 Pinemont
Houston, Texas 77040; phone 713-996-4700, email Chris.mckinnon@dxpe.com
or on the internet at www.DXPE.com

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Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals Inc. (SMMI) announced today that it has nearly completed the installation of a dedicated sodium hydroxide and ammonium sulphate demonstration facility at its plant in Chaplin, Saskatchewan. The facility will be a trial site for SMMI’s proprietary sodium hydroxide and ammonium sulphate conversion technology.

SMMI President Rodney McCann says the state-of-the-art facility is the culmination of years of research and preparation. “We’re very excited to announce this project, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the SMMI team and our partners.”

For full details subscribe to the Camford Chemical Report.

The zinc oxide industry in Canada is the midst of a significant expansion of capacity. Producers are investing in new capacity as a result of restructuring of the industry in North America and to reinforce their supply in a highly competitive landscape. More details will be forthcoming.

“Like fossil fuels, helium is a finite resource. While the known supplies are sufficient to meet demand for more than 100 years, and with advances in exploration and drilling, chances are that we may find even more, this finite resource must be managed,” is the message Walter Nelson, director of Helium sourcing at Air Products delivered at the European Industrial Gas Association (EIGA) Symposium in Brussels, Belgium.

Air Products is one of the largest helium refiners in the United States and a leading supplier globally. There has been much discussion recently about the tightness in the market and the availability of helium. Nelson’s presentation discussed all aspects of the helium business: where helium comes from; its uses and market demand; availability and distribution; supply shortage; and conservation and recycling efforts. Most importantly, Nelson presented the key actions necessary to maintain and increase helium supply for today and tomorrow.

The importance of an available helium supply to society is easily demonstrated by its many uses. The largest end-user market segments for helium are the health industry with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRI manufacturing, and the semiconductor industry. Scientific research, and traditional uses such as cutting and welding, balloons and lifting applications, diving gas mixtures and analytical and leak detection, are several other end-uses for the noble gas.

Addressing tightness in the helium market, Nelson said that we are seeing a shortage of helium supply resulting from limits in natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production as well as some existing production plant disruptions around the globe. There are no naturally-occurring underground reservoirs of pure helium. Helium is a byproduct of natural gas production.

“The current shortage in the helium market is unprecedented. Investments by the energy sector are necessary to develop and employ helium recovery with natural gas processing where there is helium present,” he said. “Not all natural gas fields are alike. Part of the decline in helium production is due to companies focusing their natural gas drilling efforts on natural gas that is rich in liquids rather than ‘dry gas’ which typically has more helium.”

One additional key factor of looming impact to helium supply is legislation currently being considered by the United States (U.S.) Congress related to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) helium reservoir, which currently supplies 30% of the global helium demand. “U.S. legislators undoubtedly need to pass legislation soon to extend the BLM operations and preserve the availability of this important source of supply. Unless, this legislation passes and BLM has renewed authority to continue to operate the federal reservoir, all of the helium that remains in the reserve would be inaccessible. The impact on the U.S. and the world in terms of helium availability would be chaotic. Renewed or new legislation granting the BLM the authority it needs to continue to supply helium would bridge the time period necessary for new announced natural gas and helium production plants to come onstream,” Nelson said.

The new sources of helium to come onstream Nelson was referring to include: a new natural gas facility to supply a new Wyoming helium plant, in which Air Products has an ownership interest; an LNG and helium project in Qatar; and additional LNG and helium production expected in Algeria. All these projects are targeted to be onstream in 2013. “Only after these three new helium sources are operational and existing plants are again running at normal rates will the global helium supply begin to fully stabilize. This is why the U.S. legislation to continue BLM supply is so critical to so many industries,” Nelson said.

Nelson also touched on steps that end-users and manufacturers must take to help conserve helium at the point of use, and encouraged them to make the investments necessary to recover and recycle helium where practical.

“Provided we do all these things, and they are all attainable, we should have more than sufficient quantities of helium available for end-users and manufacturers for years to come,” Nelson concluded.

The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) sees a significant opportunity for business with Quebec’s proposed Plan Nord project. An economic development strategy launched by the government of Quebec last May 2011, Plan Nord would develop the natural resources extraction sector in the part of Quebec north of the 49th parallel.
The territory covered by Plan Nord produces all of Quebec’s nickel, cobalt, platinum group metals, zinc, iron ore and ilmenite, and accounts for a significant portion of gold production.
Lithium, vanadium and rare-earth metals are also found there.
“Our members are looking at this as quite an opportunity,” said Fiona Cook, director, business and economics, CIAC. “There are several elements to the plan itself. Overall, there is
the regional development aspect, new infrastructure and communities all that will involve a great demand for chemistry products. This involves water purification, putting in infrastructure and piping, housing, etc. Chemistry is involved in all of that. It’s an indirect effect but a more global effect. Something a little bit more direct is the development of the mining sector. Mining uses a lot of chemical products in its processing.” For example, there could be the need for additional hydrogen peroxide capacity in the province if there is enough demand.
The CIAC at the moment, isn’t directly involved with the government of Quebec in terms of planning, but are communicating with them. “At their prompting, we met with the people at the Quebec Department of Natural Resources and Wildlife, the Quebec Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade and the Quebec Department of the Environment back in December, when a very impressive presentation on Plan Nord was shown to us. So we are plugged in. We’re not involved in the planning of Plan Nord, but making sure that, from the procurement perspective for Quebec businesses, we’re involved as an interested party,” said Cook.
Jules Lauzon, CIAC’s regional director for Quebec, is now working with the Association miniere du Quebec to draw up a list of all the chemicals that will be needed and this work is being overseen by the Department of Economic Development in Quebec City. The list is a work-in-progress. A first draft is ready and will soon be submitted to CIAC and to the Quebec mining industry.
Lauzon believes minerals taken from the ground should be refined as much as possible in northern Quebec, rather than shipped off in raw form to bustling Asian economies. To justify the enormous investment in Plan Nord, new refining and purification industries must be developed in northern Quebec, creating a self-sustaining economy and better jobs.
The newly elected PQ said it would keep Plan Nord but proposes to change the current tax royalty on profits to another system that would increase tax revenues.

Capacity use for Canada’s chemical industry increased slightly from 79.9% to 80.1% for the second quarter of this year. Statistics Canada reports a big increase in pharmaceutical and medicines production in the second quarter against a decrease in basic chemical production. The decrease in basic chemicals production did not offset the gains from pharmaceuticals resulting in the 0.2 percentage point increase.
Output from the petrochemicals sector was stable with no real change from the first quarter. The inorganic chemical sector recorded a small increase production of pesticides, fertilizers, and paints & coatings. There was also a small increase in products from the soaps and cleaning products preparations sector. A decrease of 3.8 percentage points was recorded for the other chemical products sector.