6th Annual Managing Hazardous Substances and Dangerous Goods Conference

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About

“Fatal bitumen tank explosion on West Coast”
Dominion Post, 4 September 2009

Five inhale chlorine gas in chemical spill
The Southland Times, 31 January 2009

“Worker dead in fuel tank explosion”
NZPA, 15 September 2009

Tragic headlines such as these are an unfortunate reality in New Zealand. Ensuring the health and safety of your workforce, your customers and your community is vital for all people charged with the management of hazardous substances. The effects of getting it wrong can be costly, or even deadly.

This conference has been specifically tailored to be as practical and industry-focussed as possible, giving you the maximum learning experience for your training investment. We will cover all major issues affecting HSNO compliance including:

• Classifications of hazardous substances and work areas
• The review of the test certification regime
• Developing an ERMA approved code of practice
• Examining HSNO compliance levels in New Zealand
• Improving the incident investigation process
• HSNO waste and lifecycle management

Plus, for the first time, we’re offering a separately bookable post-conference workshop to really take your learning to the next level:

Back To Basics: A User-Friendly Guide to Interpreting HSNO Legislation and Regulation
Facilitated by: Peter Dawson, Managing Director, TECHNICAL STRATEGY GROUP

This is the must attend event for those working with or managing hazardous substances in the workplace. Book early and secure your place!

Don’t forget our Super Saver special, reserve you place and pay before 13th November 2009 and save 0 off the full price!!

Workshop

18 February 2010 – Workshop (9.00am-5.00pm)
Back To Basics: A User-Friendly Guide to Interpreting HSNO Legislation And Regulation
The legislative and regulatory environment surrounding the HSNO Act is extremely complex. If you are relatively new to HSNO, the prospect of accurately interpreting all of this can be daunting – and the consequences of doing it wrong can heavily impact your organisations health and safety, or legal compliance. Improve your organisation’s compliance at this intensive full day workshop, where we set out the HSNO legislative environment in a clear, concise, and easily understandable way.
Key learning objectives:
• Interpreting the HSNO Act and surrounding regulations
• Turning legislation into practical actions for the workplace
• Deciphering the different forms of product classifications
• Classification of specific hazardous areas and atmospheres
• Developing an approved code of practice for your organisation’s approved handlers
Peter Dawson, Managing Director, TECHNICAL STRATEGY GROUP

Agenda

Agenda: Day 1

8.30

Registration & Coffee

9.00

Opening remarks from the Chair

Andrea Eng, General Manager – Hazardous Substances, ERMA

9.10

ERMA Address

This opening address from ERMA will update you on all the recent changes in standards, as well as giving their thoughts on the current levels of compliance in New Zealand and how that compares to their target implementation programme. Make the most of this opportunity to have all of your questions answered on those key compliance issues.

Andrea Eng, General Manager – Hazardous Substances, ERMA
Sue Ruston, Manager - Risk and Adaptation, Ministry for the Environment

10.00

From the Horse’s Mouth: A Test Certifier’s Perspective of Enforcement and Compliance

In much of New Zealand, the culture of HSNO management is blasé – but the typical “she’ll be right” kiwi attitude is damaging to the health and safety of our workforce. The position is generally to achieve legal compliance rather than overall materials safety.
• Is our obsession with “compliance” affecting our ability to go beyond that to reduce all reasonably foreseeable risks?
• Is there a realistic way to simplify our national compliance frameworks to increase performance?
• How do you change indifferent attitudes to HSNO safety?

Rex Alexander, Technical Director, ENVIROCOM

Unfortunately Rex's Powerpoint presentation was too big to upload

10.50

Morning tea

11.10

Examining the New Zealand HSNO Compliance Regime

Compliance crops up time and again as the biggest concern for HSNO managers. Given the complexity of the current compliance regime, it’s easy to fall short in key areas. This session will look at the major issues affecting compliance in New Zealand such as:
• Inappropriate storage areas
• Storing incompatible materials together
• Differing interpretations of legislation

Janet Connochie, Senior Chemical Consultant, CHEMSAFETY

12.00

The Beginners Guide to Developing Approved Codes of Practice

Developing an ERMA-approved code of practice has two main advantages: It provides your organisation with a clear and tailored set of compliance rules, and it also provides a statutory defence (conditions apply). This session will explore the basics on what you need to consider when preparing such a document.
• Who should produce ACoP? Industry Groups or individual Companies?
• Balancing Best Practice, regulatory compliance & usability
• Incorporating SHE requirements
• Considerations before and during writing

Phillip Tse, Principal, CHEMIE-TECH

12.45

Lunch

1.45

HSNO Product Stewardship – A Lifecycle Approach (Case Study)

Many organisations are adopting a “cradle-to-cradle” approach when it comes to their treatment of hazardous materials, and their waste or excess products. In the case of Resene, you are dealing with a substance that is not only toxic but eco-toxic. This session will examine the resource recovery, containment and disposal aspects of their hazardous materials.
• Effective and safe disposal of a mixture of toxic, flammable and eco-toxic materials
• Customer education: ensuring good HSNO waste practice by others
• Lessons for other organisations handling, transporting or selling hazardous substances

Ray Scott, Manufacturing Manager, RESENE

Speakers presentation is too big to upload

2.30

Electrical Equipment Compliance in Areas of HSNO Storage (Case Study)

Having operational electric equipment near HSNO storage areas has many implications for compliance. Pratt and Whitney faced this very issue where they decided to run electrics around storage areas of flammable substances. This session will examine the costs and benefits of:
• Increased approved handler training requirements for staff
• Increased compliance costs
• Weighing increased costs and time with operational benefits of running the equipment

Ian Brewster, Manager – EH&S, PRATT & WHITNEY

3.15

Afternoon tea

3.30

Developing a Comprehensive Emergency Plan for Site Safety

The benefits of having a comprehensive and robust emergency plan cannot be overstated, both from a Health and Safety perspective, but also from a business perspective as a way of protecting your valuable assets. It is also a compliance issue. This session will examine Emergency Response Planning – so hopefully you’ll never have to use it!
• Key aspects of an effective emergency plan
• Training requirements for your staff
• Good HSNO practise from an emergency response perspective

Julian Hughes, National Manager Health and Safety, NEW ZEALAND FIRE SERVICE

4.15

Converting Hazard Management into the Wider Risk Management for Corporate Benefit

Looking at HSNO from a purely hazard management perspective is short sighted and does not address the wider issues for your organisation. By framing often complex operational HSNO issues in a risk management language, you put things in a language executive management and board can understand and are more likely to act on.
• Hardening of the arteries: 13 years of HSNO and risk management
• OHS’s poor cousin? What is the wider corporate opinion of hazard management?
• Is the board really aware of the strategic risks of your HSNO environment?

Chris Peace, Director, RISK MANAGEMENT LTD

5.00

End of Day 1 and Networking Drinks

Agenda: Day 2

9.00

Welcome Back from the Chair

Ron Andrew, National Practice Leader, Practice Development HSNO

9.05

Achieving Consistency of Standards of Test Certification

As part of the large scale review of the test certifier regime, concerns were raised on the consistency of standards of test certifiers; what would fail in the eyes of one certifier would pass with another. This session will explore the ongoing work that ERMA New Zealand is doing to improve the standard and consistency of test certifiers across the country.
• Performance Standards for test certifiers
• Auditing of test certificates
• Further actions needed to improve the regime

Sarah Gauden-Ing, Compliance Advisor, ERMA

9.50

Department of Labour Address

This address from the New Zealand HSNO landscape’s key regulatory body will seek to answer the following questions:
• What can businesses expect from their regulators?
• How are the most high-risk offenders targeted?
• What sort of coverage is the DoL getting on these non-compliant organisations?
• What can your business do to best assist inspectors dealing with sites using or storing hazardous substances

Ron Andrew, National Practice Leader, Practice Development HSNO

10.40

Morning tea

11.00

MINI WORKSHOP: Know your Foe: Your Essential HSNO Classification Guide (Mini Workshop)

Don’t know your arsenic from your elbow? This mini workshop, comprising of two parts, will give you all the information you need on classification of hazardous substances, and classification of various work areas.
Part 1: Hazardous Substance Classification
• Which require a test certificate?
• Which require approved handler status?
• Which require bunding?
Part 2: Classifying work areas
• Standards for work areas
• What is classed as a control area?
• Establishing a hazardous atmosphere zone
These workshops will enable you to make more use out of your MSDS’s, and will ultimately make your organisation more compliant and ultimately, safer.

Suzanne Broadbent, Principal Consultant, HAS EXPERTISE

12.30

Lunch

1.30

The Downstream Impacts of Mismanaging Hazardous Materials

The impacts of poor hazardous substance management are wide and varied. Drawing on his experience both as a Test Certifier and ARC Contamination officer, John will examine the environmental and human consequences of HSNO mismanagement, including:
• An increase in the number and severity of contaminated sites
• Mismanagement of hazardous wastes causing further negative impacts
• Increase in chronic health problems – target organ damage, cancer, respiratory problems etc.
• Putting communities at greater risk (e.g. the Tamahere community from the Icepak fire)

John O’Grady, Contaminated Land Manager, AUCKLAND REGIONAL COUNCIL

2.15

Incident Cause, not Blame – Learning from Mistakes and Conducting a Full and Adequate Investigation

The outcome of incidents investigations in NZ is often focussed on blame and liability. Much more can be learnt if the focus of an investigation is what went wrong, which incident barriers failed, what is the root cause of the failure. In-house Investigations are vital to ensuring historical knowledge and lessons are retained within the organisation.
• The importance of transparent information sharing across and between organisations
• Key factors in a successful investigation
• Moving the focus from blame-shifting to discovering and eliminating root causes

Mike Farrier, Director, MIKE FARRIER CONSULTING

3.00

Afternoon tea

3.15

How to make HSNO work for you and your customers (Case Study)

How BOC has worked with Test Certifiers and others to get a consistent approach to HSNO. This case study will profile the work that BOC is doing to ensure HSNO compliance for both BOC and it’s customers.
• Key HSNO issues for BOC and how they have been met
• HSNO issues for customers and steps BOC has taken to ensure HSNO safety at customer sites
• The provision of information to BOC customers

Dr Gayle Smith, National Health Safety and Quality Manager, BOC

4.00

Industrial Site Design for Certification and role of NZIHSM

Site design is a critical element in ensuring a HSNO safe and compliant site, right from the outset. This closing session will outline the work the NZIHSM is currently doing in this crucial area of HSNO Act compliance, looking at key features of a well designed site. As a Chartered Chemical Design Engineer and Certifier with over twenty-five years experience John and the Abstel-Glyde team have almost unique experience in the design, operation and compliance requirements for of many major Chemical Manufacturing, Storage and Distribution facilities within New Zealand and internationally.
This session will also go in to other areas of work which the NZIHSM are undertaking to ensure HSNO compliance and accreditation.

John Hickey, President, NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE MANAGEMENT

4.40

Summary Remarks from the Chair and Close of Conference

Sponsors/Partners

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