Add Your Voice To Revert OSHA HCS Section 1910.1200(d)(1) wording

There is an important change that all those responsible to comply with OSHA regulations must be aware of. The proposed revisions to the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) that are designed to achieve alignment with the 7th Revision to the Globally Harmonized System will add what we believe at Quantum are unattainable compliance obligations for chemical manufacturers. These changes may render SDS meaningless. For example: An SDS for distilled water will now be required and may contain at least 5 pictograms!

The alignment with the 7th revision of GHS is needed to stay up to date with the global standard, but OSHA also modified wording to identify hazards not only “as the product is shipped” (which is under the control of the manufacturer), but also added the burden of classification for any use and foreseeable emergencies.

Proposed wording from § 1910.1200 Hazard communication d (1)

For each chemical, the chemical manufacturer or importer shall determine the hazard classes, and where appropriate, the category of each class that apply to the chemical being classified under normal conditions of use and foreseeable emergencies. The hazard classification shall include any hazards associated with a change in the chemical’s physical form or resulting from a reaction with other chemicals under normal conditions of use.

This would require chemical manufacturers to identify and analyze the hazards posed by every downstream reaction of that chemical (and potentially any other chemical mixed with it), and the hazards of the products (end products, intermediate products, by-products, and decomposition products) of those reactions, including intended reactions, manufacturing errors and reactions resulting from “foreseeable emergencies.”

This is a major diversion from the Global Harmonized System as adopted world-wide and would impose obligations on US chemical manufacturers and suppliers that go far beyond those required by any other country in the world and would put US chemical manufacturers at a clear unfair disadvantage in the world market.

Add Your Voice

We ask your help in reverting the OSHA HCS Section 1910.1200(d)(1) wording back to classification as shipped by contacting your representatives in Congress and the Senate, and any trade organizations to which you belong.

A virtual public hearing on the proposed revisions begins September 21, 2021, at 10 a.m., EDT. Individuals interested in appearing must submit a notice of intent to appear by June 18, 2021 for Docket No. OSHA-2019-0001 electronically at http://www.regulations.gov

For law reviews of the proposed changes see these links.

Please be in touch with us if you have further questions. Thank you for your initiative.

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