When the average safety manager faces a new body of dense regulatory text, we brace ourselves for several hours of analysis, investigation and, if we’re honest with ourselves, confusion. Add oodles of scientific mumbo jumbo to the page and our eyes glaze over.
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) is that type of regulation. You can imagine my relief when I incorrectly concluded that the annual Tier II report required by EPCRA did not apply to my distributor-employer. “Whew! We don’t warehouse nearly enough drain cleaner to worry about this.” I soon learned my scope was too narrow; assessing our inventory was not enough.