OSHA’s Proposal to Update Hazard Communication Standard: What Businesses should Know

While buying electronic and electrical products and appliances, today’s consumers expect full transparency from the manufacturers and brands on the ingredients, components, its origin details and processes. It is commonplace to find environment and morally-conscious consumers favoring only brands and manufacturing companies that are strongly committed towards workplace safety and employee wellbeing.

Agencies and regulatory bodies oversee processes and policies on manual handling of raw materials and chemicals to ensure the employees working with any brand or business are given safe and healthy workplaces. The U.S. department of labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) agency’s Hazard Communication Standard regulation gives workers the right to know, and right to understand about chemical safety in workplaces. The standard was proposed to prevent hazardous chemicals-related accidents, injuries and illnesses to workers and employees.

Every manufacturing company or importer dealing with the products or components containing hazardous chemicals are responsible to share complete and comprehensive hazard information in form of data sheets and labels to their consumers. Additionally, they are also required to furnish employees with the details of all hazardous chemicals they are likely to come in contact with at the workplace with appropriate data sheets, labels and safety training.

The Hazard Communication Standard has undergone revisions and updates in the past for further standardizing the way chemicals or chemical components are classified, and to ease hazard communication for workers.

Recently, OSHA issued a proposal to update the standard for maintaining uniformity with the U.N Global Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The purpose behind the amendment is to ease trade barriers, and drive productivity and cost efficiency for businesses and manufacturing companies that handle, store, import or use hazardous chemicals. The new changes to the Hazard Communication Standard focuses on three areas:

• Hazard Classification: Proposed way of categorizing health and physical hazards and classifying certain chemical mixtures.
• Labels and Warnings: Manufacturers or importers of hazardous chemicals must include labels with universal signs, pictograms and hazard statements for each chemical hazard class and category. The labels must also include precautionary messages and statements.
• Information and Training: Any addition of new elements or processes must be updated in the labels and safety data sheets to make employees aware of the new changes. Employers are also responsible to provide training to improve workers’ understanding and awareness about the hazardous chemicals and processes.

Awareness on workplace risks and unsafe environments helps businesses have fair judgment and avoid catastrophic results that gravely affect brand reputation, finances and human resources. Acquis’ compliance expertise and deep-industry knowledge on the global environment and compliance landscape will help you keep up with the recent regulations and align them with your business objectives.

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