Hazard Communication: Cleaning and Maintenance Operations

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You've probably heard of OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard, but you may not have thought about how it affects you. Did you know that an ordinary cleanser can actually be toxic, flammable, even explosive? OSHA's HazCom standard and similar state laws exist so that you have the right to know about potentially hazardous materials that you may encounter in your workplace, which is why they are sometimes referred to as the Right to Know regulations. Their goal is to make sure that you have the information, training, and equipment you need to work safely around hazardous materials. (Triumphant music). Under the HazCom standard, chemical hazard information is communicated to you in three ways: safety data Sheets, container labels, and your facility's written hazard communication program. A safety data sheet, previously known as a material safety data sheet, is essentially a guide for how to safely use a specific chemical. Chemical manufacturers and distributors provide safety data sheets for each of the products that they sell. Your facility keeps copies of SDSs on file so that you can refer to them whenever necessary. Safety data sheets are a wealth of information about a chemical product, starting with all of the names a chemical goes by and the company that manufactures it. If the product contains hazardous ingredients, or may present a hazard itself, this information can also be found on its SDS. While working with a chemical, the SDS will guide you on how to handle and store a chemical, and what exposure controls and personal protective equipment to use to protect yourself. If there is an emergency, the SDS will tell you the first aid procedures to follow, as well as how to clean up a spill involving the chemical. Safety data sheets all use a format that was created under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, GHS for short, so it's easy to remember where to look on an SDS for the information that you need. OSHA has also incorporated the GHS labeling specifications into the HazCom standard so that all manufacturers' labels will use the same format and provide the same type of information about the chemical they represent. At a glance, the label will provide the material's name and its potential health, fire, and reactivity hazards. It will also list specific precautions to take, situations to avoid, and, if necessary, what personal protective equipment to wear when working with the chemical. Before the adoption of the GHS labeling format, all chemical container labels did not present information in the same way. Some labels were written. Some used shapes, numbers, or letters to convey their warnings. Others used symbols or pictures to represent hazards or indicate required personal protective equipment, which could sometimes make it difficult to find the information you needed. You may see some of these types of labels on older containers, and even under the GHS rules, in-house labels don't have to follow the GHS format as long as they contain the information that the GHS requires. But regardless of the types of container labels that you encounter in your facility, you need to read them carefully before working with any chemical. And any time you transfer a chemical to another container, you should make sure that the secondary container is labeled properly. Another place you can find information about hazardous chemicals is in your facility's hazard communication program. This is basically a roadmap showing how your facility is complying with the Hazard Communications Standard and discusses what types of potentially hazardous materials are in your workplace, where they are, how they are labeled, where SDSs are kept, how employees will receive their training, and anything else you will need to know in order to work with the materials safely.