OSHA’s Updated HazCom Standard and Its Implications for You

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the revision to its Hazard Communication (HazCom) Standard, aligning it with the updated versions of the UN’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).

Effective July 19, 2024, it aims to cover the entire supply chain, from chemical manufacturers, importers, and distributors to end users of hazardous chemicals.

HazCom Standard: List of Changes Suggested by OSHA

Some of the key aspects of the new standard include:

• New Classification Criteria: For aerosols, chemicals under pressure (a new category within the aerosols class), desensitized explosives, and flammable gases.
• New Labeling Allowances and Requirements: Manufacturers of chemicals in small quantities (100 mL or less) can use abbreviated shipped container label information on immediate containers. Manufacturers of smaller containers (3 mL or less) can put only the product identifier on the immediate container if necessary. Both must include an outer package that provides complete label information with instructions to users to retain the outer packaging when not in use.
• Exception for Containers Ready for Shipment: Manufacturers, importers, or distributors who have already released products for shipment do not have to relabel their containers.
• New Approach to Classifying a Chemical: Manufacturers must consider the intrinsic properties of chemicals, including known or anticipated hazards, when classifying them and include the details.
• Updated Requirements for SDSs: Manufacturers are required to provide additional information in SDSs, such as “particle characteristics,” including domestic contact information and other relevant information.
• New Approach to Classify Some Chemicals: Some chemicals, such as oxidizing solids, have a new classification approach, and for others, new clarifying instructions have been introduced.

Many of these new requirements will help downstream users better understand the potential hazards associated with chemicals and implement mitigation strategies to reduce or eliminate them when transporting, handling, and using them. In some cases, users may also need protective gear to avoid harm.

It must be noted that OSHA acknowledges that the hazards or the intensity of hazards of all chemicals may not be known or understood by the manufacturer or supplier. However, it is crucial to caution downstream users about potential hazards with sufficient information.

In 2021, OSHA proposed that a manufacturer, importer, or employer be allowed to withhold the identity of a specific chemical, a hazardous chemical, or the exact percentage used in a mixture in the SDS to protect a trade secret under specific conditions. Modifications have been introduced in the finalized proposal, allowing this to be used only in cases where the chemical is used in narrower ranges than recommended.

OSHA also has made other minor revisions to Section 9 requirements, including:

• Addition of evaporation rate
• Vapor pressure
• Introducing the term “viscosity” instead of “kinematic viscosity”
• Replacing “appearance (physical state, color, etc.)” with “physical state.”

Another modification requires importers to write new SDSs (Safety Data Sheets) for imported products that do not include SDSs with domestic supplier contact information.

The current revision allows labels compliant with OSHA’s HazCom Standard and the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for bulk shipments to appear on the same container. The label can be on the immediate container or be part of the shipping papers, bills of lading (BoLs), or electronic means.

Other Changes to the HazCom Process

For Importers:

• Include domestic/US contact and emergency contact information, so there can’t be a foreign emergency contact phone number in this section. If the SDS for the imported product is not OSHA-compliant, the first US company to import it will be considered the responsible party and must write an SDS with domestic contact information.

Classification Approaches:

• The classification methods have been revised and include:

• New testing criteria such as UN Test O.3 for oxidizing solids.
• Using the “exclamation mark” pictogram similar to the one allowed by Canada’s HPR for Hazards Not Otherwise Classified (HNOC).
• Including earlier guidance on classifying Corrosive to the Respiratory Tract (CTRT) hazards in the HazCom while adding new requirements for CTRT relative to Specific Target Organ Toxicity (STOT) and Skin Corrosion/Eye Damage.
• Aligning skin corrosion/skin irritation classification with GHS Revision 8 and including non-animal test methods.
• Revising the numerical threshold for Category 3 materials.
• Revising the definition of flammable liquid, where the boiling point is determined using methods specified under OSHA’s Flammable Liquids standard (29 CFR 1910.106(a)(5)) and listed on the SDS.
• Including a conditional statement about combustible dusts.

There are also several updates about hazard and precautionary statements, including aligning with GHS Rev. 7. C.2.4.10 is a new paragraph that addresses cases where substances or mixtures classified for several hazards may require a corresponding number of precautionary statements for medical responses. Textual variations are allowed in P-statements originally provided in a LOI, improving the alignment with Canada’s HPR.

Improving Compliance & Safety with CQ SafetyQuest with Integrated Document Handling

The new version of HazCom will impact only a few chemical hazard classes and is focused on chemical classification and the information provided on SDSs. However, this will require several manufacturers to reclassify a few of their products, resulting in a need for new labels and SDSs.

ComplianceQuest’s safety management solution can facilitate compliance with new requirements faster. It is already aligned to ISO standards and meets the requirements of many of the leading regulations. This helps businesses become compliant with harmonized standards quickly, on the go.

The CQ solution enables:

• The creation/management/version control of Safety Data Sheets with ease and centralized storage for easy access, minimizing duplication of efforts.
• Label management is also made easy, providing templates to reduce inaccuracies and improve compliance.
• Further, the solution is cloud-based, allowing authorized personnel to review and approve relevant documents to ensure that hazard communication is up to date and meets the revised requirements.