Implement a Hazard Communication Program for Your Business
Hazard Communication continues to be on OSHA’s Top 10 most cited violations list every year. In fact, it has been the number two most cited violation for the past four years.
Safety measures around hazard communication need to be a top priority at your workplace where hazardous chemicals are present. Employers that have hazardous chemicals in their workplaces are required by OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), 29 CFR 1910.1200, to implement a hazard communication program.
Key requirements involve a written program, container labeling, accessible SDSs, and comprehensive training for initial assignments and new hazards, with recent updates adding specific compliance deadlines for manufacturers, distributors, and employers through 2028.
Know the Core Hazard Communication Program Requirements
With every hazard communication program, there are key requirements that must be established and maintained in order to meet OSHA’s standards.
Employers must implement the following:
- Written Hazard Communication Program: Employers must develop a written plan detailing how they will meet HCS requirements.
- Labels: Containers of hazardous chemicals must have labels with product identifiers, signal words, hazard statements, pictograms, precautionary statements, and supplier information.
- Safety Data Sheets (SDSs): Manufacturers/importers must provide detailed SDSs for each hazardous chemical, outlining hazards, composition, safe handling, and emergency measures, which employers must make available to employees.
- Employee Information & Training: Workers must be trained on chemical hazards, protective measures, and how to read labels and SDSs when first assigned to a job and when new hazards are introduced.
Consider Outsourcing Your Hazard Communication Program
With so many workplace pressures such as project management, staffing, training, and other safety concerns, it’s often easy to overlook certain hazards or underestimate certain safety measures. Sometimes employers do not have expertise in specific safety areas.
Partnering with a safety consulting organization like Compliance Consultants, Inc. is the perfect solution that can save you both time and money. It’s one thing to develop a Hazard Communication Program, but it takes constant commitment and review to make it effective. Just having a policy or some Safety Data Sheets (SDS) kept in a folder isn’t enough.
With our Hazard Communication Program, we take the necessary steps, using our proprietary software, to help you create and maintain a record of your program management.
Here are some of the many ways CCI can help your organization:
- CCI will conduct a hazardous chemicals inventory at your facility and develop a full Hazard Communication Program for your company that meets all OSHA requirements.
- Safety Data Sheets change regularly. Our staff researches every single chemical in our massive database annually, so you can be sure that your employees have the most up-to-date information available to them when they need it.
- CCI can also assist with labeling requirements.
- Using our proprietary software, CCI will create a custom inventory database specific to your company.
- We print all required documents – a Hazard Communication written policy, a list of all chemicals onsite, the most recent safety data sheet for each chemical, required wall notices, emergency phone lists, etc.
- Clients receive a program manual and a USB thumb drive for uploading all your documents into your cloud storage.
- We provide annual program maintenance to ensure that Safety Data Sheets updated by manufacturers are added to your Program.
- We will also conduct training for employees meeting the OSHA requirements, and also to ensure employees know how to find and read a Safety Data Sheet and chemical labels.
Have a Hazard Communication Safety Plan – Don’t Delay
If you know your employees are exposed to these workplace hazards and your programs/processes are not current, please contact us so we can help you develop and maintain a Hazard Communication Program that meets OSHA requirements.
Resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/learning/safetyculturehc/module-5/7.html
