Chemical hygiene officers

Major elements of a CHP plan include listing of responsibilities for employers, employees, and a chemical hygiene officer. Also among the items that have to be covered in the plan is the stipulation that every laboratory must have a complete chemical inventory that is updated annually. A copy of the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), which defines each chemical as toxic, carcinogenic, or dangerous, must be on file and readily accessible and available to aU employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The MSDS contains important information for the benefit of laboratory employees. The chemical manufacturer s information as supplied on the MSDS is used to ascertain whether a certain chemical is hazardous. Each MSDS must give the product s... 

Day-to-day oversight for maintaining and operating a safe work environment is delegated to two groups the Industrial or Chemical Hygiene Office and the... 

Radiation Safety or Radiological Control Office. The industrial hygienist (IH) or chemical hygiene officer (CHO) is concerned with the overall safety and comfort of the laboratory workforce. The radiation safety officer (RSO) is concerned more specifically with radioactive materials. The IH/CHO and RSO staffs function under different laws and regulatory agencies, but have parallel responsibilities that organizationally may be either combined or separate. 

ACS 1998. American Chemical Society. Living with the Laboratory Standard A Guide for Chemical Hygiene Officers. Washington, DC ACS. 

Alaimo, R. J. and Fivizzani, K. P. November/December 1996. Qualifications and training of chemical hygiene officers. Chemical Health and Safety 3(6), 10-13. 

Chemical Hygiene Officers must meet the chemical worker training requirements and have the education or experience to determine the hazards and consequences of exposure to the chemicals found on the chemical inventory. 

Additional members of the Committee are included in the review process on an as needed basis, depending on the characteristics or uses of the chemical being ordered. For instance, if the material is highly energetic or may be used in the fabrication of explosives or explosive devices, the Explosives Safety and/or Nuclear Explosives Safety Department will review the form. The site Chemical Hygiene Officer reviews the form when a chemical is being requested for any of Ihe several laboratories onsite. 

Becauseoftheindependenceofthe various divisions,orschools,in largerorganizations, the separate internal administrative units may find it desirable to establish their own safety committees. The unit committees would adapt the overall institutional safety policies which must be followed in the context of their own operations and areas of responsibility. It would probably be desirable to identify an individual as the division chemical hygiene officer to act as liaison with the individual representing the central authority. This position is not required, however, for a subunit (other than the laboratory) of an organization under the OSHA laboratory standard. 

Designation of personnel responsible for implementation of the CHP, to include designation of a chemical hygiene officer (CHO) and, if appropriate, a chemical hygiene committee. Most organizations with a variety of laboratories would normally choose to form such a committee. 

Develt a chemical hygiene plan and appoint a chemical hygiene officer. 

There are many fields of endeavor in chemistry. As you are deciding what you want to do and where you want to do it, you may want to consider chemical health and safety as a career. Alternatively, you may have an opportunity to take on some responsibilities for chemical health and safety as a collateral (additional) duty. For example, your employer might designate you as their Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO, see Section 3.3.1). In many smaller companies without a formal Environmental Health and Safety division, the person designated as the CHO (a... 

Chemical Hygiene Plans Describes OSHA s Laboratory Standard that requires laboratory management to develop a Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP), to appoint a Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO), and how a CHP can help in devising protection from exposure. 

H. J. Elston and W. E. Lutrell. The CHO s spectrum of responsibilities. Journal of Chemical Health and Sctfety 5(3 ) 15-18 (1998). H. J. Elston. A whistle-stop tour of OSHA for laboratories regulations and standards for the Chemical Hygiene Officer. Journal of Chemical Health and Safety 5(6) 9-11 (1998). 

H. I. Elston. The Chemical Hygiene Officer s radiation protection primer. Journal of Chemical Health and Setfety 15 (1) 14-19 (2008). 

---