Activating the Easter Incident Command System

The Industrious Hygienist has been ridiculously busy over the last few weeks making new puppets and manga (and still working three jobs). To help tide you over until the more educational and interesting posts, here's a 2015 holiday greeting for Easter - or the spring/fertility festival of your choice.

Attempting to make Easter enjoyable as an adult - brought to you by Sock Puppet Safety.

Upcoming blog posts include: writing a tabletop disaster drill scenario with Master Scenario Events List (MSEL), Code Pink shenanigans, why every manager should be trained in incident command, and completing an After Action Report (AAR).

Bored in Asbestos Refresher Class?

I spend a lot of time in continuing education classes, including annual asbestos refresher classes. Some of the classes are a regulatory requirement and others are topics I'm interested in. Certifications such as the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and Certified Indoor Environmentalist (CIE) require a certain amount of contact hours for continuing education.

In a given year, I devour an average of 100 hours in conferences, refresher classes, and continuing education as shown below:

• Asbestos Building Inspector: 4 hours per year
• Asbestos Contractor Supervisor: 8 hours per year
• Asbestos Management Planner: 4 hours per year
• Asbestos Project Designer: 8 hours per year
• Lead Risk Assessor: 8 hours every three years
• Lead Project Designer: 8 hours every three years
• Industrial Hygiene Ethics: 1-2 hours every other year
• American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Safety Professional Development Conference: 3 days every other year
• American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Exposition (AIHce): 3 days every other year
• Local Arizona ASSE Safety Professional Development Conference: 8 hours every year
• OSHA 503 Update for General Industry Trainers: 3 days every three years
• Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) Chapter Meetings or Webinars: 8 hours per year
• HAZWOPER Refresher: 8 hours per year
• Hazardous Materials and Waste Transportation Refresher: 10 hours every three years
• Hazardous/Toxic Waste Management Refresher: 8 hours every three years
• Other interesting continuing education courses: 8-16 hours per year

I recently spent part of a morning texting a friend/client (at their request) to help them stay awake in asbestos refresher class. This got me thinking about all the times I attempted to keep focused during class in the 8+ years of various asbestos refreshers, to little avail.

Attendees to asbestos refresher class can be very disruptive, using the class as a vehicle to network (loudly) with consultants, contractors, and building owners or representatives. Sometimes they'll spend the entire day texting and emailing, jumping out of their seats to take a call in the lobby, speaking just loud enough so the rest of the class can see how busy and important they are. Others open up their laptops and just work on projects during the refresher class. If there are snacks or coffee provided, you're guaranteed to have some obnoxiously loud slurpers or chewers. 

Here's some of the ways I quietly and unobtrusively entertain myself during asbestos refresher class:

• Play "Free Rice" on my cell phone - less obvious than some of the other cell phone games, just as addictive, and your learning helps contribute to donations of rice via the World Food Programme
• Doodle all over my refresher class notes
• Make up my own acronyms (EPA, AHERA, MAP, NIOSH, OSHA, etc.)
• If desperately bored, I'll go through other continuing education courses on my iPhone or iPad, like the CDC Biosafety QuickLearn lessons, California Department of Public Health Continuing Education Courses on Lead/Mercury/Coccidioidomycosis, and University of Minnesota School of Public Health's free online courses in public health

And, of course, I'll pay attention to new letters of interpretation or interesting arguments, answer questions when prompted, and complete the end of course test or assessment in record time.

I drafted this latest Industrious Hygienist manga during the text session with my friend/client, hope you enjoy it.

The Industrious Hygienist is never bored in asbestos refresher class!

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Four

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is the finale, Part Four (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Four

The Exceptional Spouse and I are looking forward to spending the holidays with family and friends, especially the events where Shadow (Alaskan Malamute) gets to come along.

Thanks for continuing to read my blog - expect more safety and industrial hygiene related posts in 2015 and beyond.

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Three

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is Part Three (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Three

More to come by the end of the year.

Here are links to Holiday Manga from previous years for your reference and enjoyment:

• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 1
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 2
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 3
• 2011- Holiday Card
• 2013 - Holiday Card

If you want to review more of my favorite holiday safety tips from industry experts, click here. As always, thanks to Hiromu Arakawa for the Fullmetal Alchemist character stylings. 

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Two

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is Part Two (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Two

More to come by the end of the year.

Here are links to Holiday Manga from previous years for your reference and enjoyment:

• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 1
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 2
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 3
• 2011- Holiday Card
• 2013 - Holiday Card

If you want to review my favorite holiday safety tips from industry experts, click here.

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part One

In keeping with previous years, I'm doing another series of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA!! As a reminder to some of my more impatient :) readers, each of these one page drawings take me between six and eight hours to complete. So, I am working as fast as I can with the limited free time I have available.

Here is Part One (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part One

More to come by the end of the year.

Here are links to Holiday Manga from previous years for your reference and enjoyment:

• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 1
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 2
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 3
• 2011- Holiday Card
• 2013 - Holiday Card

New OSHA Fact Sheet - PPE Selection Matrix for Ebola

I'm excited to share an image of the new OSHA Fact Sheet entitled "PPE Selection Matrix for Occupational Exposure to Ebola Virus." My last blog post showed the process for donning and doffing PPE in support of the CDC Guidelines, and starred my team at Sock Puppet Safety.

The Fact Sheet details the recommended PPE based on a variety of occupational exposure scenarios:

• conducting normal work activities
• casual interaction (outside of a health care setting)
• providing medical and supportive care
• conducting clinical laboratory work
• conducting research laboratory work
• handling dead bodies
• cleaning and disinfecting environments
• performing maintenance work
• handling, transporting, and disposing of waste

An image of the PPE selection matrix is shown below - it looks a bit daunting until you see how it is separated out by task.

OSHA's PPE Selection Matrix for Occupational Exposure to Ebola Virus.

So, for a task like handling, transporting, treating, and disposing of waste that is suspected or known to have Ebola Virus contamination (considered Category A waste by the U.S. Department of Transportation), the following PPE is recommended according to the selection matrix:

• Typical precautions/PPE normally used for the work task
• Dedicated clothing (uniforms/scrubs/shoes)
• Gloves, double (nitrile + heavy duty + puncture-resistant)
• Face mask (e.g., surgical mask)
• Face and eye protection (e.g., shield/goggles)
• Fluid-resistant gown
• Fluid-resistant coveralls
• Fluid-resistant shoe and boot covers high enough to cover lower leg

The list above is the kind of PPE that would be worn by environmental services workers or waste collection workers in hospitals and other settings, as well as DOT-permitted waste disposal and collection company workers. 

Thanks to OSHA for providing such a useful resource!