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Recyclers News Press
The United States OSHA standard for compliance in
hazardous chemical information will be updated to
the standardization of the United Nations Globally
Harmonized System or GHS format for providing
chemical information to employees.
The Material Safety Data Sheets or MSDS will be
standardized to the GHS format in that sixteen (16)
unique categories in a specified order will be the re-
quired formatting of information. The result will be
new Safety Data Sheet or SDS that will be aug-
mented with pictograms for understanding at a
glance what hazardous may be present when han-
dling the chemical in the workplace.
By June 2016 all of the MSDS will be reformatted
and available from chemical manufacturers as SDS.
Also by that deadline each facility must using the
SDS format for labeling the containers of chemicals.
The labels will be required to container the chemical
name, a signal word and pictograms to convey the
dangers. Other information of the labels will include
Hazard Statements, Precautionary Information and
the chemical supplier identification.
By now that information should sound familiar. As
should the impending training deadline. By Decem-
ber 1, 2013 every shop that has employees with ex-
posure to chemical is required to provide training to
those employees about the upcoming changes to the
Hazard Communication Standard so that U.S, OSHA
rules meet the GHS guidelines. Are you ready?
The training will simply include the information that
the MSDS will become SDS is the standardized for-
mat and that at a later date the SDS format labels
will be adhere to each chemical container such as
your used oil storage tote, tanks and barrels, gaso-
line tanks and antifreeze drums. Those are future
requirements and the immediate training only needs
to alert the employees of the impending changes.
OSHA Goes Global but Have You?
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