Chemicals

GHS: A Necessary But Significant Change

Adoption of GHS by OSHA will affect HazCom compliance in significant ways. But experts say the change is necessary and will benefit U.S. businesses and workers.

Adoption of GHS by OSHA will trigger the need for considerable retraining, according to Bernard K. Russiello of RC2 Consulting in West Grove, Pennsylvania.

For example, instead of being able to write out hazards and protections in narrative form, GHS will require use of specific warning statements. The change will also require use of pictograms.

Using international diagrams can make communication easier and more consistent, but only if affected employees know and understand them. According to Russiello, American workers are less familiar with pictograms than workers in China and Japan.

Reclassification

Under GHS, it will also be necessary for manufacturers, employers, and others to reclassify the ingredients in their products and mixtures according to the universal categories.

This is a change from the past when the "1 percent rule" was widely applied. A substance present in a concentration of 1 percent or more was classified based on that hazard. GHS would require a more graduated, testing-based calculation that Russiello calls "less strict but more precise."


Checklists keep your workplace and your workers safe. See how with the award-winning Safety Audit Checklists program from BLR. Try it at no cost and no risk plus receive a free special report. Get the full story.


Necessary Change

Like many experts, Russiello believes GHS is a change that needs to be made. Safety data sheets and labels will be less confusing and, as a result, workers will face less risk and better protection. Also, as developing nations come into compliance with GHS, some U.S. companies will feel more confident importing chemicals or products from those nations.

Despite the changes GHS will bring, the purpose and effect of HazCom will remain the same—to protect employees from chemical hazards.

The idea behind the HazCom standard is—and will remain—straightforward. It’s purpose is to ensure that employers and employees can:

  • Identify and understand hazardous chemical substances in their workplace
  • Identify the physical and health hazards associated with those chemicals
  • Know how to take effective protective action to prevent hazardous exposures

These goals will continue to be paramount under GHS.


Examine the best-selling Safety Audit Checklists program for 30 days at no cost —not even for return shipping. Try it now and receive a FREE special report! Get the details.


Improve Communication of All Kinds of Hazards

BLR’s Safety Audit Checklists provides safety and health checklists on more than 50 essential workplace topics. These checklists can help you communicate all kinds of workplace hazards to employees, including chemical hazards.

Each Safety Audit Checklists section contains:

  • A review of applicable OSHA standards
  • Safety management tips
  • Training requirements
  • At least one comprehensive safety checklist

Many sections also contain a compliance checklist, which highlights key provisions of OSHA standard. All checklists can be copied and circulated to supervisors and posted for employees.

All told, this best-selling program provides you with more than 300 separate safety checklists keyed to three main criteria:

  • OSHA compliance checklists, built right from the government standards in such key areas as HazCom, lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and many more.
  • "Plaintiff attorney" checklists, built around those non-OSHA issues that often attract lawsuits.
  • Safety management checklists that monitor the administrative procedures you need to have for topics such as OSHA 300 Log maintenance, training program scheduling and recording, and OSHA-required employee notifications. 

Make as many copies as you need for all your supervisors and managers, and distribute. What’s more, the entire program is updated annually. And the cost averages only about $1 per checklist.

If this method of ensuring a safer, more OSHA-compliant workplace interests you, we’ll be happy to make Safety Audit Checklists available for a no-cost, no-obligation, 30-day evaluation in your office. Just let us know, and we’ll be pleased to arrange it.

Print

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.