Hazard Communication Standard contents

An estimate of the toxicity or intrinsic hazard is needed for each material identified in the inventory. Such information for many chemicals in the form of a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) are required by the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard. (Other countries have similar requirements.) Standard hazard-data sources may need to be consulted for those chemical compounds for which no MSDSs are presently available. Adequate hazard data may be lacking for various mixtures that are unique to the plant. For such mixtures, it may be necessary to analyze the contents and then estimate the overall hazard based on the individual components. 

All containers of hazardous chemicals should be labeled in accordance with OSHA hazard communication standards. Each container of and/or apparatus with hazardous chemical contents in the lab should be labeled with the following information ... 

CFR1910.1200 41CFR101-42.202(a) through (c) 4.1.3 Identification and Documentation of Hazardous Materials - Actual or potential hazards associated with an excess hazardous material shall be documented with a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) supplied by the manufacturer, distributor or importer. If an MSDS is not available, a Hazardous Materials Identification System (HMIS) record from the automated Department of Defense database is acceptable. If an MSDS or HMIS record is not available, a hazard identification document prepared by the owning DOE organization that meets the MSDS content requirements for hazardous chemicals set forth in the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29CFR1910.1200) shall be used. 

For companies operating in the United States, the design, content, and application of an MSDS are explained in detail in OSHA s 1910.1200 (g) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). Some of the key points with regard to this four page standard are as follows... 

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) are required by OSHA s Hazard Communication Standard and chemical suppliers are required to provide copies of these for each chemical that it sells to its customers. MSDSs are written to inform workers who use chemicals in workplaces about the hazards associated with the chemicals. Their general structure and contents were described in Section 3.1.3. MSDSs have proved useful for many people, including those working in industrial workplaces who handle large quantities of chemicals, and also to emergency response personnel. Most MSDSs, however, do not focus on the use of chemicals in laboratories, where small quantities of many different chemicals are used in normal operations. Nevertheless, there can be much useful information found in these documents—particularly when making safety plans to work with a particular chemical. 

Under this program, the contents of the Hazard Communication Standard will be provided, the hazardous properties of chemicals that are used, safe handling procedures, and measures to take to protect employees from these chemicals. Information will also be provided on the hazards associated with nonroutine tasks, such as the cleaning of reactor vessels and the hazards associated with chemicals in unlabeled pipes. 

At the time of this writing the ANSI Format MSDS was not yet required by OSHA, but that requirement should be forthcoming. For that reason, it was instructive to make a listing of the corresponding twelve (i)-(xii) types of information required for MSDSs by the Hazard Communication Standard 29 CFR 1910.1200 (g) (2) with a detailed description of the content of the 16 ANSI Sections, as shown in Table IB. This table was discussed in the MSDS lecture. If lecture time is limited, this could be done as a lab or pre-lab exercise, or given as a handout. 

Train employees. In addition to the general training under the hazard communication standard, employers must also train employees exposed to hexavalent chromium on the contents of the Chromium (VI) standard, 1910.1026. 

One of the primary contents of the Treaties of the European Community (EC) is the elimination of trade barriers for technical equipment. These barriers have been based on different technical standards (and their legislation) in the member states of the EC. Referring to article 100 of the Treaties of the EC, some directives have been issued in order to harmonize the standardization for technical products (explosion protected electrical apparatus and systems, elevators). These directives describe precisely the technical requirements and list the relevant standards, in the field of explosion protection CENELEC Standards exclusively. Directive 82/130/EEC refers to mines endangered by firedamp and/or combustible dusts, and Directive 76/117/EEC covers areas hazardous due to potentially explosive atmospheres. The member states of the EC shall transform these directives into their national legislation within 18 months. 

The standard addresses this concern by offering a common labeling method for use in all facilities. Ensure the labeling of pipes to communicate contents and provide information such as hazards, temperatures, and pressmes. Use arrows to show the direction the material flows. High-hazard materials use black characters on a yellow background. 

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