The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a directive for enforcement of the new Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom), which went into effect on June 1.
HazCom was revised in March 2012 (officially dubbed HCS 2012) to align with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), and manufacturers, importers and distributors of chemicals had to be compliance with new GHS labeling and safety data sheet standards by this past June 1.
The enforcement instructions, however, advise inspectors not to issue citations if the manufacturer, importer or distributor of the chemicals lack a GHS-compliant data sheet or label, provided the company can show it has exercised “reasonable diligence” and “good faith” in trying to obtain the data sheets or labels from upstream suppliers.
Read OSHA Instruction CPL 02-02-079.
If you own or operate a small to medium-sized business, managing all your employees plus meeting federal labor laws and regulations can be daunting, especially with new rules being issued all the time. To help you understand your rights and responsibilities in every facet of running a business, please order a copy of Personnel Concepts’ All-On-One HR Compliance Program for Small Businesses.