Pub. 2 2013 Issue 1

26 San Diego Dealer By Sam Celly Celly Services Background: GHS or the Globally Harmonized System for clas- sification and labeling of chemicals has been adopted by OSHA earlier this year. While GHS may be the buzz word, we are still talking about the Hazard Communication Program (HCP) enacted by OSHA in 1986 that is currently in affect at 5 million employers across the United States. HCP covers a written plan, MSDS, chemical labeling and training for employees that use these chemicals. The implementation of GHS by OSHA is spread across the next few years as follows: • December 1, 2013: Train Employees on how to use the new Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and GHS Classification and Labeling • June 1, 2015: Compliance with the law regarding Labeling, Training, and the new Safety Data Sheets • December 1, 2015: Ship products with New Labels • June 1, 2016: Update the Hazard Communication Program and provide additional training for new hazards reported under the new SDS regime. Note: During the transition time, the employer may comply with either the old or new regulations or both! HCP is the most frequently cited violation by OSHA to the General Industry and hence, it is important that we understand the changes this new law is expected to bring about. For example, 3 of 10 citations issued by OSHA in recent years have been on HCP. Reason for Change: OSHA has long believed that the old HCP program gave chemical manufacturers too much flexibility in how to present hazard information resulting in MSDS that were difficult to Globally Harmonized System for Classification & Labeling of Chemicals read, understand, and inconsistent. The new program shifts the focus from“Right to Know” to “Right to Understand.” We believe that the new program will improve the quality of the SDS (old MSDS) by establishing a harmonized structure and improve protection to workers, employers, and chemical users. The revised standard will have an overall cost of $201 million/year according to OSHA. GHS has been in the making for over 10 years and has been approved for use within 60 nations. The global trade in chemicals is over $1 billion and uniform labeling by countries will facilitate that commerce as well. Labeling Changes: HCP applies even if you have one chemical in commercial use at your dealership, and will apply to labeling of all chemicals coming from the factory and fromother independent vendors. The labeling changes will be completed by the chemical manufacturers and distributors, so no changes need to done at the dealership level. However, secondary labeling where chemicals are transferred from a bulk container to a smaller secondary container must be labeled under the new GHS standard. The secondary labeling has always been a challenge to employers. Certain employees, due to their literacy or language barrier, may not be able to label the containers accurately. Furthermore, the labeling by employees completed by ink pens is washed off by the chemicals they are refilling in the secondary containers. Dealerships should make a policy where only vendor provided pre-labeled containers are used to refill from bulk containers. Such bottles should be purchased in suitable quantities and stored in accessible location within easy reach of the end users. Sure shot containers, if in use, will also need new labeling.