In yesterday’s GHS review, we talked about compliance guidelines, how GHS has changed HazCom, and GHS-compliant labeling requirements. Today, we review issues involving the SDS and employee training.
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Manufacturers, importers, or distributors must provide a safety data sheet (SDS) to their customers for each hazardous chemical at the time of the first shipment of the chemical.
The SDS is a 16-section document prepared by the manufacturer or importer of a chemical that describes the physical and chemical properties, physical and health hazards, routes of exposure, precautions for safe handling and use, emergency and first-aid procedures, control measures, and other information about the chemical.
By June 1, 2015, manufacturers, importers, and distributors must replace MSDSs with SDSs for the chemicals they ship.
You must prepare a list of all hazardous chemicals known to be present in the workplace as part of you written hazard communication program using a product identifier that is referenced on the appropriate SDS. If an SDS is missing, the employer must get it from the manufacturer, distributor, or other source. The list will eventually serve as an inventory of every substance for which an SDS is required.
Employers that are not chemical manufacturers or importers and that receive chemicals into the workplace may choose to rely on the information in SDSs and chemical labels supplied by the chemical manufacturer or importer.
If you choose not to rely on the classification performed by the chemical manufacturer or importer for the chemical, you must conduct your own hazard classification according to the same process prescribed for manufacturers and importers.
Find out what you need to know about OSHA’s HazCom 2012, the revised hazard communication standard, which now incorporates elements of GHS. BLR is pleased to announce the availability a FREE Best Practices Report on GHS sponsored by Accuform Signs. To find out how to get your copy, click here.
Training Guidelines
According to OSHA HazCom guidance materials, training can be accomplished through a combination of audiovisuals, classroom instruction, and interactive video. Training can be conducted or information provided by categories of hazard (such as carcinogens or toxic agents) rather than by specific chemical.
Training is required for new physical or health hazards, not for every new chemical that enters the workplace. If, however, a newly introduced chemical does not fit into an existing hazard class or category, training for that new chemical must be provided.
A general discussion of hazardous chemicals or giving employees an SDS to read, for example, is not enough. If an OSHA inspector concludes that the training is inadequate, a more rigorous review of the company’s entire compliance program will probably follow.
You are also responsible for evaluating employees’ level of knowledge concerning hazards in the workplace and the hazard communication program.
If employees receive job instructions in a language other than English, the training and information conveyed under HazCom should also be presented in that language.
Significant changes in OSHA’s hazard communication standard that impact more than 5 million workplaces will be phased in through June 1, 2016. To make sure your hazard communication program is in compliance with new GHS requirements we’re offering a FREE Best Practices Report. Find out more.
HazCom 2012: What You Need to Know
In 2012, OSHA adopted elements of the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) into its revised hazard communication standard, or HazCom 2012.
HazCom 2012 includes new requirements affecting:
- Hazard classification
- Labels
- Safety data sheets
- Information and training
These significant changes that impact employers, as well as chemical manufacturers, importers, and distributors, will be phased in through June 1, 2016.
Find out what you need to know to about the new GHS requirements going forward with the FREE Best Practice Report Hazard Communication with GHS: What You Need to Know. You’ll learn about:
- Major requirements of HazCom 2012
- Compliance deadlines
- Labels, tags, and markings
- The new safety data sheet (SDS)
- Employee training requirements
- Best practices to help you during the transition to HazCom 2012
- FAQs about GHS
To access your FREE copy of Hazard Communication with GHS: What You Need to Know, click here.
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