Hazardous chemical exposure can cause, or contribute to many serious health effects such as heart disease, kidney and lung damage, sterility, cancer, burns, and skin rashes. Some chemicals may also be safety hazards and have the potential to cause fire, explosions, and other serious accidents. Exposure to chemicals poses a serious problem for both employers and their workers.
OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard states that labels must be prominently displayed on all containers of hazardous chemicals in the workplace, and MSDS’s are readily available in the work area throughout each work shift.
OSHA revised their Hazard Communication Standard to align with the international “Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals”, commonly referred to as “GHS”. As a result, manufacturers and distributors of hazards chemicals and products must begin standardizing their container labels to display all of the following information.
Check out SPS’s Safety Orientation video segment on this topic…