OSHA’s HazCom Standard Does Not Require Chemical-Specific Training

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission strikes down OSHA’s interpretation of the training component of the HazCom standard.
by Arthur G. Sapper

You are the new safety manager of a chemical plant, which has about 700 hazardous chemicals. You examine the plant training records, and see that employees spent an inordinate amount of time being trained under OSHA’s hazard communication standard. In fact, every employee is told the name of every hazardous chemical in his work area and given other chemical-specific information.

This puzzles you because you know that Paragraph (h)(1) of OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1200, specifically states: “Information and training may be designed to cover categories of hazards (e.g., flammability, carcinogenicity) or specific chemicals.”

You also recall reading my article in the August 2000 issue of Occupational Hazards magazine – titled “Chemical-Specific or Hazard-Category Training?” – which argued that for this very reason, chemical-specific training is not required.

In your previous job, you used hazard-category training instead of chemical-specific training. You told employees that chemicals in their work area posed certain hazards, such as flammability or carcinogenicity, but you did not name every such chemical. You told them to get chemical-specific information from material safety data sheets and labels.

The MSDS – Steer Clear of Potential Hazcom Roadblocks

                When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enacted the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) in 1983, the chemical manufacturing and distribution industries were the most affected by the broad sword of complying with the regulations.  At the heart of this standard, is the idea that all employees have a right to know what the chemicals and associated hazards are in their workplace. To that end,  chemical manufacturers and importers must convey both physical hazards (such as flash point, flammability, explosivity), and the health hazards (carcinogenicity, birth effects, etc) of their end products.  This is achieved using Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs).  One problem with MSDSs stems from the fact that the HCS is a performance based standard, meaning that the employer is allowed flexibility in adapting rules to the needs of the workplace versus rigid compliance requirements.  In fact,  the standards are so flexible that OSHA has no specified format for the MSDS other than what information should be included.  With over 3 million MSDSs written since the Standard was enacted,  the variability in quality and formatting is staggering.