The new HCS changes many things for manufacturers and distributors of hazardous chemicals, and fewer things for other employers who merely use hazardous chemicals in the workplace. A "hazardous chemical" is "any chemical which is classified as a physical hazard or a health hazard, a simple asphyxiant, combustible dust, pyrophoric gas, or hazard not otherwise classified." In addition to making minor changes to familiar terminology, the new HCS contains a number of broad-ranging substantive changes. For example, "Material Safety Data Sheets" will now be known as "Safety Data Sheets" (SDS)
The schedule for compliance with the new HCS is staggered, as further described below, with December 1, 2013, being a notable deadline for employee training and chemical container re-labeling.
What Has Not Changed For Employers
The basic requirements for employers are not changed by the new HCS. These include:
- Ensuring that labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals are not removed or defaced
- Maintaining safety data sheets that are received with incoming shipments of hazardous chemicals, and ensuring that they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work areas
- Ensuring that employees are provided with information and training to the extent necessary to protect them in the event of a spill or leak of a hazardous chemical from a sealed container
The new HCS also continues with the requirement that employers develop, implement, and maintain at each workplace, a written hazard communication program that, at a minimum, describes how the criteria specified for labels and other forms of warning and training will be met, and that also includes the following:
- a list of the hazardous chemicals known to be present in the workplace using a product identifier that is referenced on the appropriate SDS; and
- the methods the employer will use to inform employees of the hazards of non-routine tasks (for example, the cleaning of chemical containers), and the hazards associated with chemicals contained in unlabeled pipes in a work area.
What Has Changed for Employers
An employer must ensure that workplace labels or other forms of warning are legible, in English, prominently displayed on the container, or readily available in the work area throughout each work shift. The use of mandatory pictograms in labeling is a new requirement. Diamond-shaped pictograms with a signal word, such as "danger," must now be used on labels to denote hazard classes for various substances, e.g., flammable, pyrophoric, etc.
Information Available to Employees
Employers must provide employees with effective information on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new chemical hazard that the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area.
Employers who become newly aware of any significant information regarding the hazards of a chemical must revise the labels within six months of becoming aware of the new information. Chemical-specific information must always be available through labels and SDSs.
Additionally, employees must be informed of any operations in their work area where hazardous chemicals are present, and of the location and availability of the written hazard communication program, including the required list(s) of hazardous chemicals, and SDSs.
Training
Employers must train employees in at least the following areas by December 1, 2013:
- Methods and observations that may be used to detect the presence or release of a hazardous chemical in the work
- The physical, health, simple asphyxiation, combustible dust, and pyrophoric gas hazards, as well as hazards not otherwise classified, of the chemicals in the work area
- The measures employees can take to protect themselves from these hazards, including specific procedures the employer has implemented to protect employees from exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as appropriate work practices, emergency procedures, and personal protective equipment to be used
- The details of the hazard communication program developed by the employer, including an explanation of the labels received on shipped containers and the workplace labeling system used by the employer
- The SDS, including the order of information and how employees can obtain and use the appropriate hazard information
In summary, for employers (assuming they do not themselves manufacture or distribute chemicals), the focus of the 2012 HCS will be on training employees on the new hazard warning label elements and implementing the new SDS format by December 1, 2013.