by Dawn Moline — With the goal of increasing worker safety through worldwide harmonized hazard communication, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted criteria from the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for classifying and communicating chemical hazards to workers. For companies to be compliant, chemicals made or imported will need to be reevaluated. New labels and safety data sheets (SDSs) will need to be created, and all employees who are exposed to hazardous chemicals in their workplace will need to be retrained.
GHS in the Making
Two decades ago, at the United National Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), a problem was discussed and a mandate imposed stemming from the fact that around the globe, governments recognize the need for regulations on chemicals. Potentially hazardous chemicals and products need labels and data sheets to describe the hazards inside the package and what to do if something terrible happens. However, if all of the countries of the world define the same product differently, then effective hazard communication can become difficult and expensive. One product could require many different labels and data sheets. So a plan was agreed upon to develop a GHS.
Experts from different countries, international organizations, and stakeholder groups worked together and, using some of the preexisting systems, negotiated one harmonized system. They put their recommendations into the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for Hazard Classification and Labeling, commonly referred to as the “Purple Book.” The Purple Book is not a regulation or a standard. Governments and regulatory bodies can choose to adopt all, part, or none of those recommendations.
OSHA is in charge of the safety and health conditions of American workers. The agency’s regulation that governs the labeling and SDS requirements for hazardous chemicals in the workplace is called the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) and is in the 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.1200. In March 2012, OSHA revised the HCS, using the guidelines found in the third edition of the GHS Purple Book. The move was designed to align more closely with the world, to reduce trade barriers, and increase worker hazard comprehension. The modified system is called 2012 HCS.
What’s New & What’s Not
Not everything is changing. The 2012 HCS is a modification of the prior regulations with a focus on GHS. Items that do not have anything to do with GHS, such as the framework, scope, and exemptions, are largely unchanged. Some terminology has changed. “hazard determination” was changed to “hazard classification” and “material safety data sheets” was changed to the SDSs mentioned above. Manufacturers and importers are still required to provide appropriate labels and SDSs; however, the format and information provided has stricter standards.
With the adoption of GHS, the hazard definitions have been changed to provide specific criteria for classification of health and physical hazards, as well as classification of mixtures. This will mean most, if not all, of the products in the United States will need to be reclassified. Criteria has been provided for more than 30 hazard definitions ,such as “acute toxicity,” “hazardous to the aquatic environment,” and “skin sensitization.” Those definitions will be used to determine what information will need to be provided on labels and SDSs.
Label It!
In the past, label preparers were able to provide the hazards in whatever way they choose. Now the labels must include the product identifier, supplier information, a signal word like “Danger “or “Warning,” pictogram(s), hazard statement(s), and precautionary statement(s) for each hazard class and category. Product identifier and supplier information is reasonably straight forward. However, the other requirements may need a little explaining.
Signal words serve to quickly communicate the relative severity of the hazard, with “Danger” being more severe than “Warning”.
Pictograms are graphics that indicate the health, physical, and environmental nature of the hazard. All of the pictograms include a symbol. There are eight pictograms currently required by the HCS: Health, Flame, Exclamation Mark, Gas Cylinder, Corrosion, Exploding Bomb, Flame over Circle, and Skull and Crossbones. The GHS lists a ninth pictogram for Environment, which was not adopted by OSHA because the environment is not in its jurisdiction.
Hazard statements are assigned to every hazard class and category. They describe the nature of the chemical’s hazard, including the degree of hazard when appropriate.
Precautionary statements are phrases used to convey any recommendations for preventing or minimizing adverse effects from the exposure, improper storage, or mishandling of a hazardous chemical.
SDSs will have most of the information found on the label plus more specific information about the chemical organized into 16 mandatory sections. These sections fall in line with the format established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) . It is important to note that Sections 12 through 15 are not mandatory, and OSHA will not be policing the content of these sections because they are outside the scope of its jurisdiction. In addition, the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and National Toxicology Program (NTP) classifications are still required. However, rather than apply criteria for carcinogenicity, OSHA is allowing people who classify products to use the listings provided by IARC and NTP.
These new requirements for labels and SDS, especially the signal words and pictograms, should significantly improve worker comprehension but only if they know how to read them. For this reason, the new standard is requiring workers be trained in the GHS portions of the 2012 HCS.
Benefits
OSHA has given some of the reasoning and potential benefits of adopting the GHS. One of the original purposes of the GHS is reduction of trade barriers. Trade is more easily accomplished if companies do not need to reclassify their product every time they ship to a new country. While not every country has accepted the GHS, many have, including the European Union. So companies looking into international trade will have an easier time producing usable labels and SDSs for their products.
Of course, OSHA is the safety and health administration, so the agency discusses more fully the health and safety benefits of the program. In the United States, there are 43 million employees that could be exposed to a hazardous chemical in their workplaces. With the new labels and SDSs, including easily read pictograms and obvious hazard statements, it is hoped that approximately 43 deaths and 585 injuries and illnesses can be prevented every year. Expressing that in monetary value, those reductions in occupational risks equal about US$250 million a year.
There are other financial benefits: OSHA estimates that U.S. businesses could realize a total savings of more than $790 million from productivity improvements. After full implementation, the belief is that productivity will actually be higher because manufacturers will need to produce fewer SDSs and employee training will be more efficiently handled.
Overall Costs
OSHA has also worked out the financial costs for the entire United States. The 2012 HCS’ total cost is an estimated $201 million a year. To break that down: The cost of classifying chemical hazards in accordance with the GHS criteria and revising SDSs and labels to meet new format and content requirements would be about $22.5 million a year on an annualized basis. The annualized costs a year for management to become familiar with the new GHS system and to engage in other management-related activities is estimated at $59 million; $95.4 million a year for employee training, plus $24.1 million for printing, packaging, and labels for hazardous chemicals in color.
Who is Affected?
Chemical producers, manufacturers, and importers will need to review the hazard information for all their chemicals produced or imported, classify them using the new criteria, and update their labels and SDSs accordingly for distribution. It will be extremely important to have someone well qualified to classify the products and generate the SDS and label information. Mistakes in classification could cause injury or loss of time and money. Many companies will need to hire well educated personnel or outside companies.
Chemical users also will need to continually update SDSs, provide training on the new label elements, and update their hazard communication programs if and when new hazards are identified. This process may inundate manufacturers, importers, and distributors with requests for proper documentation. Distributors will need to contact manufacturers for updated OSHA/GHS SDSs and labels. And the deadlines approach, some companies could choose to switch suppliers rather than risk noncompliance.
Implementation Timeline
OSHA has released a firm deadline for all of the 2012 updates. Effective December 1, 2013, employers will need to train their workers on the new label elements and SDS format. Chemical manufacturers and importers must comply with will all aspects of the final rule, including creating updated labels and SDSs, by June 1, 2015. Distributors will be able to ship products with old labels and SDSs until December 1, 2015.
All companies will have until June 1, 2016, to update any alternative workplace labeling and hazard communication program as necessary and provide additional employee training for newly identified physical or health hazards.
OSHA considers the HCS a living document and updates are not only possible but likely. As mentioned, for example, the current GHS additions to the HCS are from the third edition of the Purple Book; however, the Purple Book is already in its fourth edition, with more forthcoming.
Over the next few years, a great deal of work from many sectors will be needed to implement the revised HCS, and companies will need to work together. However, worker comprehension and safety is a worthy goal. OSHA’s 1983 HCS brought employees the “Rght to Know Act”. In 2012, they were given the right to understand.
Dawn L. Moline is GHS marketing manager with Infotrac, a full-service chemical emergency response center that helps companies comply with OSHA and U.S. Department of Transportation regulations. She can be reached at dawn.moline@infotrac.net; phone, 800-535-5053. Or for more information, visit www.infotrac.net.