Hazard Communication Program

Oregon OSHA Online Course 205

This material is for training purposes only. Its purpose is to inform Oregon employers of best practices in occupational safety and health and general Oregon OSHA compliance requirements. This material is not a substitute for any provision of the Oregon Safety Employment Act or any standards issued by Oregon OSHA. For more information on this online course and other OR-OSHA online training, visit the Online Course Catalog.

MODULE ONE: ASSESSING CHEMICAL HAZARDS

Scope of the rule

The hazard communication standard requires chemical manufacturers, distributors or importers to assess the hazards of chemicals which they produce, distribute, or import.

The hazard communication standard is based on the premise that chemicals have inherent characteristics that pose potential hazards, and workers have the right to know what those potential hazards are. All employers must provide information to their employees about the hazardous chemicals to which they are exposed. They do this by means of a hazard communication program, labels and other forms of warning, material safety data sheets, and information and training.

Only chemical manufacturers and importers are required to perform hazard determinations on all chemicals they produce or import, although distributors and employers may also choose to do so. Hazard determination procedures must be in writing and made available, upon request, to employees, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and OSHA. Appendix C in the standard is provided as a guide for use when assessing appropriate hazard evaluation procedures.

Application

The hazard communication rule applies to any chemical which is known to be present in the workplace in such a manner that employees may be exposed under normal conditions of use or in a foreseeable emergency.

The phrase "known to be present" is essential to the scope of the standard. If a hazardous chemical is known to be present by the chemical manufacturer or the employer, it is covered by the standard. This includes chemicals to which employees may be exposed during normal operations or in a foreseeable emergency. This means that even though an employer was not responsible for the manufacture of the hazardous chemical, the employer has the responsibility for conveying hazards to his/her employees.

For example, the standard applies in the following situations: if employees are exposed to chemicals brought onto a multi-employer worksite by other employer(s) or if service personnel are exposed to natural gas during furnace repair. An employer whose employees are exposed to chemicals "known to be present" must include in their hazard communication program information concerning the hazards of those chemicals.

Employee. - Employees, such as office workers or bank tellers who encounter hazardous chemicals only in non-routine, isolated instances are not covered. For example, an office worker who occasionally changes the toner in a copying machine would not be covered by the standard. However, an employee who operates a copying machine as part of her/his work duties would be covered by the provisions of the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS).

The standard applies to:

• Any chemical that employees may be exposed to under normal conditions in the workplace or in a foreseeable emergency.

  
  The terminology "exposed under normal conditions of use or in a foreseeable emergency" excludes substances for which the hazardous chemical is inextricably bound or is not readily available, and, therefore, presents no potential for exposure. Foreseeable emergency does not include employee exposures in the event of an accidental fire, but does include equipment failure, rupture of containers, or failure of control equipment which could result in an uncontrolled release.

Products exempt from coverage by the HSC

• Any hazardous waste as defined by the Solid Waste Disposal Act;

  
  

• Any hazardous substance defined by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability ACT (CERCLA) when the hazardous substance is the focus of remedial or removal action being conducted under CERCLA;

  
  

• Tobacco or tobacco products;

  
  

• Wood or wood products, including lumber which will not be processed, where the chemical manufacturer or importer can establish that the only hazard they pose to employees is the potential for flammability or combustibility (wood or wood products which have been treated with a hazardous chemical covered by this standard, and wood which may be subsequently sawed or cut, generating dust, are not exempted);

  
  

• Articles. By definition, a manufactured item is exempted as an article if "under normal conditions of use it does not release more than very small quantities, e.g., minute or trace amounts of a hazardous chemical...and does not pose a physical hazard or health risk to employees";

  
  

• Food or alcoholic beverages which are sold, used, or prepared in a retail establishment (such as a grocery store, restaurant, or drinking place), and foods intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace;

  
  

• Any drug, as that term is defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, when it is in solid, final form for direct administration to the patient (e.g., tablets or pills); drugs which are packaged by the chemical manufacturer for sale to consumers in a retail establishment (e.g., over-the-counter drugs); and drugs intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace (e.g., first aid supplies);

  
  

• Cosmetics which are packaged for sale to consumers in a retail establishment, and cosmetics intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace;

  
  

• Any consumer product or hazardous substance, as those terms are defined in the Consumer Product Safety Act and Federal Hazardous Substances Act respectively, where the employer can show that it is used in the workplace for the purpose intended by the chemical manufacturer or importer of the product, and the use results in a duration and frequency of exposure which is not greater than the range of exposures that could reasonably be experienced by consumers when used for the purpose intended;

  
  

• Nuisance particulates where the chemical manufacturer or importer can establish that they do not pose any physical or health hazard covered under this section;

  
  

• Ionizing and nonionizing radiation; and,

  
  

• Biological hazards.

Responsibilities

Requirements for chemical manufacturers, distributors, and importers are different than those for employers who only use manufactured chemicals.

Employer responsibilities include:

• assessing the hazards of chemicals,
• container labeling,
• material safety data sheet development, maintenance and use,
• information and training, and
• development of a written hazard communication plan

Throughout the rest of the course, pay special attention to those areas you've listed as inadequate. You may gain some good ideas about how to improve those areas.

Assessing the hazards

The quality of a hazard communication program is largely dependent upon the ability of the manufacturer to adequately and accurately determine the hazards posed by the chemicals they manufacture. Although manufacturers, importers, and employers evaluating chemicals are not required to follow any specific methods for determining hazards, they must be able to demonstrate that they have adequately ascertained the hazards of the chemicals they produce according to the following criteria:

• Carcinogenicity: Evidence that a chemical is carcinogenic is established by the National Toxicology Program, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, OSHA Standards, and all available scientific data.
• Human data: Where available, epidemiological studies and case reports of adverse health effects must be considered in the evaluation of the chemical.
• Animal data: Since human evidence of health effects in exposed populations is generally not available for most chemicals produced or used in the workplace, toxilogical testing in animal populations is usually required to predict health effects.
• Adequacy of data: To establish sufficient basis for findings which determine hazards, they must be from studies designed and conducted according to established scientific principles, and which report statistically significant conclusions regarding health effects. In vitro (in an artificial environment outside the living organism) studies alone generally do not form the basis for a definitive finding of hazard.
• Reporting data: Chemical manufacturers, importers, or employers may report the results of other scientifically valid studies which tend to refute the findings of hazard.

Additional requirements for determining the hazards chemical mixtures used in the workplace are further outlined in 29 CFR 1910.1200 (d)(5).

Material safety data sheets (MSDS)

Chemical manufacturers and importers must obtain and develop a material safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical they produce or import.

Employers must maintain and use a material safety data sheet in the workplace for each hazardous chemical they use. We will cover the MSDS in depth later in the course. If you're familiar with the MSDS, you'll agree that they are not exactly everyone's favorite reading, but they are extremely important for a number of reasons.

The Material Data Safety Sheet contains a wealth of information to protect employees in the workplace. For instance, you're given information about the nature of the chemical. You're also told what personal protective equipment (PPE) to wear when working with a hazardous chemical. You'll receive procedures to use if an unexpected spill occurs or if there is some kind of emergency as a result of exposure to a hazardous chemical. The MSDS may also serve as an excellent "course outline" when training specific HAZCOM procedures. Be sure you don't minimize the importance of the information given on the MSDS -- it may save your life some day!

Warning Labels

The containers used by manufacturers for hazardous chemicals are called primary containers. Chemical manufacturers must develop appropriate labels that provide hazard warning information, and they, as well as distributors and importers must make sure each primary container of hazardous chemicals leaving the workplace is properly labeled, tagged or marked with the:

• Name of the manufacturer;
• Name of the hazardous chemical; and
• Appropriate warning hazard

When the employer transfers a hazardous chemical from the manufacturer's primary container to another container, they create a secondary container. The secondary container might be a coffee can, glass jar, or other container. The employer must make sure their secondary container labels indicate the:

• Common name of the hazardous chemical; and
• Appropriate warning hazard

Information and training

Education is the beginning of safety, and that certainly applies to hazard communication. It's critically important that employers educate their employees on the:

• physical and health hazards of chemicals used in their work area,
• hazard communication rule requirements,
• availability and location of the written program, and
• the importance of the training subjects below.

Employees should be thoroughly trained on how to:

• reference the chemical list of hazards,
• use material data safety sheets,
• use protective practices including PPE,
• recognize a release of chemicals, and
• detect overexposure to chemicals

Written plan

Employers must develop, implement, and maintain a written hazard communication plan that contains a list of the hazardous chemicals being used in the workplace, assigns responsibilities, and describes procedures for:

• labeling containers,
• maintaining and using material safety data sheets, and
• information and training
• pipe labeling
• non-routine task procedures
• contractor procedures

Take a look at the model written hazard communication plan to get a better idea what the various sections look like.

Last words

Well, I think from reading the introduction and this first module you have a good idea what the scope, application and responsibilities of the hazard communication program are. So, it's time to take review by answering the questions below. Once you've completed all of the modules, you will enter these answers on the Final Assignments and Quiz page online.

MODULE Quiz

a. minimized, mailed
b. selected, exposed
c. evaluated, transmitted
d. trained, presented

a. True
b. False

3. All of the following are primary methods described in the hazard communication rule to inform employees of the hazards in the workplace, except:

a. Container Labeling
b. Material Safety Data Sheets
c. Medical exams
d. Information and training
e. Written plan

4. Employees are required to be educated about all of the following hazard communication program subjects, except:

a. Physical and health hazards
b. Hazard communications rule requirements
c. Availability of the written program
d. MSDS completion requirements

5. The employer must make sure their secondary container labels indicate the name of the manufacturer, common name of the hazardous chemical, and appropriate warning hazard

a. True
b. False

6. In an effective hazard communication program, employees are thoroughly trained on how to:

a. reference the chemical list of hazards
b. use the MSDS and protective practices
c. detect release and overexposure of chemicals
d. all of the above

7. When are consumer products exempt from hazard communication rule?

a. when used as manufacturer or importer intended
b. when stored in appropriate consumer containers
c. range of exposure is reasonably experienced by consumers
d. when purchased in consumer containers
e. a and c above

8. An employer whose employees are exposed to chemicals merely "known to be present" need not include information concerning the hazards of those chemicals.

a. True
b. False

9. According to the text, manufacturers, importers, and employers evaluating chemicals must be able to demonstrate that they have adequately ascertained the hazards of the chemicals they produce according to all the following criteria, except:

a. OSHA data
b. Animal data
c. Carcinogenicity
d. Human data

10. A written hazard communication plan must contain a list of the hazardous chemicals being used in the workplace, assigned responsibilities, and description of procedures for all of the following, except:

a. contractor procedures
b. medical response procedures
c. information and training
d. non-routine task procedures

Congratulations! You've finished the first module. In Module 2 we'll discuss the general nature of chemical hazards and how to assess and control chemical hazards in the workplace.