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OSHA revives slumbering hazcom standard

Emergency Management Alert, May 23, 2006

OSHA revives slumbering hazcom standard

Material safety data sheets (MSDS) will get a new look but the word is still out on whether employers will have to pony up for personal protective equipment (PPE), according to the Spring 2006 regulatory agenda from OSHA.

Though the final comments on the PPE matter were received in August 2004, final action is still pending on that standard, and no specific date has been set to publish the rulemaking, said notes in the agenda, released April 24.

However, there are rumblings on the hazcom front, with OSHA announcing it would issue an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for its hazard communication standard, which requires an employer to develop a written program. OSHA said it will modify the rule to be consistent with GHS, the globally harmonized system for labeling chemicals, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2003. This would involve changing the criteria for classifying health and physical hazards, adopting standardized labeling requirements, and requiring a standardized order of information for MSDS.

"We knew this was coming," said fire instructor and safety officer Thomas Huser, author of HCPro's Environment of Care: A Compliance Guide to the JCAHO's Management Plans. With environmental health consultant Kenneth Weinberg MSC, PhD, Huser hosted the August 3, 2004 HCPro audioconference, OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard: Building an Effective Program to Avoid Citations and Keep Workers Safe. In that session Huser and Weinberg told listeners to keep an eye on MSDS updates. In the meantime, they recommended, emergency managers should analyze their own hazcom programs for effectiveness using HCPro sample surveys, updates, and training. Huser's book contains a sample hazcom written program for hospitals.

"With OSHA, it is always interesting to see what they really come out with versus what they have been hinting towards," said Huser.

To order the audioconference or Environment of Care, scroll to the end of this page and click on the link for HCMarketplace.

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