Hazcom Gets A Facelift

From EHS Today

Ten things you need to know about OSHA’s new hazard communication standard.

OSHA, on March 26 in the Federal Register, published the final rule to integrate the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) into OSHA’s hazard communication (HazCom) standard. The amended HazCom standard requires employers to classify chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, and to adopt new, consistent formats for labels and safety data sheets (SDS)1 for all chemicals manufactured or imported in the United States.

When introducing the final rule, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels said, “This is a very exciting day for OSHA. We’ve been working on this standard for quite some time. Over the years, it became clear that the old HazCom standard was inadequate because of inconsistency and inaccuracy, which affected workers who had trouble finding the information they needed.”

How Chemicals Change US

From NY Times

Scientists are observing with increasing alarm that some very common hormone-mimicking chemicals can have grotesque effects.

A widely used herbicide acts as a female hormone and feminizes male animals in the wild. Thus male frogs can have female organs, and some male fish actually produce eggs. In a Florida lake contaminated by these chemicals, male alligators have tiny penises.

These days there is also growing evidence linking this class of chemicals to problems in humans. These include breast cancer, infertility, low sperm counts, genital deformities, early menstruation and even diabetes and obesity.

Philip Landrigan, a professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, says that a congenital defect called hypospadias — a misplacement of the urethra — is now twice as common among newborn boys as it used to be. He suspects endocrine disruptors, so called because they can wreak havoc with the endocrine system that governs hormones.

Endocrine disruptors are everywhere. They’re in thermal receipts that come out of gas pumps and A.T.M.’s. They’re in canned foods, cosmetics, plastics and food packaging. Test your blood or urine, and you’ll surely find them there, as well as in human breast milk and in cord blood of newborn babies.

In this campaign year, we are bound to hear endless complaints about excessive government regulation. But here’s an area where scientists are increasingly critical of our government for its failure to tackle Big Chem and regulate endocrine disruptors adequately.

Last month, the Endocrine Society, the leading association of hormone experts, scolded the Food and Drug Administration for its failure to ban bisphenol-A, a common endocrine disruptor known as BPA, from food packaging. Last year, eight medical organizations representing genetics, gynecology, urology and other fields made a joint call in Science magazine for tighter regulation of endocrine disruptors.

Do you know your labels?

The Chemical Hazards Communication Society (CHCS) has published a great site explaining the meaning of the GHS pictograms/labels.

Some Tips for using chemicals safely (link)

1. Always read the label before choosing and using a chemical product, and follow any safety advice given by the supplier.

2. Store chemicals safely in their original containers out of reach of children and pets, preferably in a locked cupboard.

3. If you need more advice about using the chemical safely, call the supplier using the telephone number printed on the label.

4. If you or your family accidentally swallow or come into contact with a chemical in a way that harms you, you must seek medical attention. You can call NHS Direct or go to your nearest A&E department. Make sure you take information about the chemicals with you (name of the product, supplier’s name, and any hazard symbols and safety information on the label).

5. Advice on disposing of old and unwanted chemicals can be obtained from your local waste authority (council). Never dispose of chemicals down the sink, drain, or toilet.

US EPA Provides Guidance to Pesticide Companies to Clarify EPA’s Pesticide Labeling Requirements in Light of OSHA’s Newly Revised Hazard Communication Standard

The Environmental Protection Agency has published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of Pesticide Registration Notice 2012-1, titled Material Safety Data Sheets as Pesticide Labeling. This notice updates and clarifies PR Notice 92-4, titled Material Safety Data Sheets as Pesticide Labeling and is available at http://www.epa.gov/PR_Notices/.

The notice provides guidance to registrants on the relationship between EPA-approved labels for pesticides registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Material Safety Data Sheets required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Material Safety Data Sheets are also referred to as Safety Data Sheets.

OSHA requires Safety Data Sheets under its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS)(29 CFR 1910.1200) and recently published a final rule (77 Federal Register 17574-17896, March 26, 2012) to align its HCS requirements with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS is designed to provide a common and coherent approach to defining and classifying hazards and communicating hazard information on labels and safety data sheets. The system was developed based on major existing systems for industrial chemicals, pesticides, consumer chemicals and chemicals in transport, but implementation of the GHS would require some changes in all existing systems in order to achieve harmonization.

PR notice 2012-1 explains how registrants can ensure their FIFRA labeling and Safety Data Sheets comply with EPA’s requirements.

EPA recommends registrants include in their Safety Data Sheets the hazard information required on FIFRA labeling and a brief explanation for differences between that information and the Safety Data Sheet hazard information. The PR Notice includes sample language that may be used.

The agency is soliciting comments on the information collection activities and related burden estimates associated with the guidance provided in PR Notice 2012-1. Comments are due by June 19, 2012 and should be submitted to docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0176 at regulations.gov.

OSHA Fact Sheet on the New GHS Rule

From OSHA:

New changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard are bringing the United States into alignment with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), further improving safety and health protections for America’s workers. Building on the success of OSHA’s current Hazard Communication Standard, the GHS is expected to prevent injuries and illnesses, save lives and improve trade conditions for chemical manufacturers. The Hazard Communication Standard in 1983 gave the workers the ‘right to know,’ but the new Globally Harmonized System gives workers the ‘right to understand.’

The new hazard communication standard still requires chemical manufacturers and importers to evaluate the chemicals they produce or import and provide hazard information to employers and workers by putting labels on containers and preparing safety data sheets. However, the old standard allowed chemical manufacturers and importers to convey hazard information on labels and material safety data sheets in whatever format they chose. The modified standard provides a single set of harmonized criteria for classifying chemicals according to their health and physical hazards and specifies hazard communication elements for labeling and safety data sheets.

Department of Labor Announces GHS

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis to announce updates to OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard during March 20 teleconference

Updated standard will protect workers, save American businesses nearly $500 million

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, joined by Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels, will host a press teleconference on March 20 to announce a final rule updating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Hazard Communication Standard. To better protect workers from hazardous chemicals and help American businesses compete in a global economy, OSHA has revised the Hazard Communication Standard so that it is in alignment with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. Other OSHA officials also will participate in the call to answer questions on the updated standard and the globally harmonized system.

WHO: Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels

WHAT: Press teleconference on updates to OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard to align it with the
Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals

HOW: Phone number: 800-857-9615
Passcode: 23427

WHEN: Tuesday, March 20
11:30 a.m. EDT

CSB statement on Unclassified Hazards in OSHA GHS proposed rules

From CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso:

Recently, I wrote the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management of Budget (OMB), to express my strong support for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposal to include an “unclassified hazards” category in its pending Final Rule. Currently OMB is reviewing the Final Rule for adoption of a Globally Harmonized System (GHS) which would align the existing hazard communication standard with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labeling.

As my letter indicates, the inclusion of an “unclassified hazards” category would substantially improve the ability of the GHS system to provide crucial information to workers and employers about serious hazards that might otherwise not be included in safety data sheets because they do not fit into the current classification categories of the GHS.

Over the past eight years, the CSB has conducted five major investigations and one safety study of fatal combustible dust explosions and flash fires. We have found this hazard to be far too common in industry, yet the GHS would be unable to effectively provide information about its presence or prevention without an “unclassified hazards” category. Indeed, both in its own investigations and in many other instances, the CSB found that a large proportion of safety data sheets for combustible dusts did not warn of their explosion hazards.

Just last week I was in Nashville, Tennessee, to release the CSB’s final investigation into three iron powder flash fires that occurred at the Hoeganaes facility located in Gallatin. These accidents resulted in five worker fatalities and two injuries – it is my hope that improved communication standards will assist in addressing the hazards of combustible dust. We urge OSHA and all the relevant industry and labor stakeholders to support the inclusion of the “unclassified hazards” category in the GHS proposal now before the OMB.

END STATEMENT

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.

Coke, Pepsi changing their carmel

From Chicago Tribune

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are making changes to the production of an ingredient in their namesake colas to avoid the need to label the packages with a cancer warning.

The changes will not alter the colas’ taste, color or formula, according to statements from both companies.

Coke and Pepsi said on Friday that they had asked their suppliers of the caramel coloring in their colas to alter their manufacturing process to meet the requirements of a California ballot initiative aiming to limit exposure to toxic chemicals.

The change is meant to reduce the amount of a chemical called 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI, which in January was added to the list of chemicals covered by California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65.

High levels of that chemical have been linked to cancer in animals.

Earlier this week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a U.S. watchdog group, said it found unsafe levels of the chemical in cans of Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Dr Pepper and Whole Foods Markets’ 365 Cola.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said at the time it was reviewing the group’s petition but stressed that the drinks were still safe. An FDA spokesman said a person would have to drink “well over a thousand cans of soda a day to reach the doses administered in the studies that have shown links to cancer in rodents”.

Shares of Coke and Pepsi were both up 0.4 percent in afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 0.5 percent.

Obama’s OSHA: Improved but still weak

From Salon:

After three years of the Obama administration, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) finds its ability to police the business community is extremely limited, even with a Democrat in the White House and legitimate health and safety experts leading the agency.

Almost every new regulation the agency issues, no matter how minor, is rebuffed amid a firestorm of ferocious rhetoric from influential (and highly capitalized) industry lobbying groups, and their Republican allies. Other branches of the Obama administration hinder OSHA’s rule-making process, while some Democrats, including the president, express an ambivalent attitude toward regulation.

“There is no question that OSHA under Obama is a vast improvement over the previous administration,” says Tom O’Connor, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. “This is not reflected in new regulations, but in the approach to enforcing existing [regulations] and using the authority that they have to make the agency more of a serious deterrent to unsafe conditions.”

OSHA Renews Alliance with Society for Hazard Communication

Promoting best practices to reduce worker exposure to hazardous chemicals is the goal of a renewed alliance between OSHA and the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication (SCHC). The alliance is geared to address hazard communication and to increase awareness of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).

“More than 32 million workers are exposed to 650,000 hazardous chemical products in American workplaces,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Our continued alliance with the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication will help ensure that workers are aware of the chemical hazards to which they may be exposed, and help reduce chemical-related occupational illnesses and injuries.”

During the new two-year agreement, the alliance will also share information on OSHA’s National Emphasis Programs, Regulatory Agenda, and opportunities to participate in the rulemaking process. The alliance will develop information sheets on the health and physical hazards of chemicals and on the elements that make a GHS label compliant. Through presentations at industry meetings, webinars, and national safety and health conferences, the alliance will share information on best practices for protecting workers from the hazards of chemicals.

SCHC represents nearly 500 chemical hazard communication professionals promoting awareness of issues and new developments in hazard communications.