THE COHEN GROUP
  Environmental Health & Safety Consulting Services

The Cohen Group Newsletter - Volume 6  Issue 3, Article 5.  August, 2004

  Changes to the HazCom Standard

Joel Cohen, CIH

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board recently adopted changes to the Hazard Communication Standard. Some of these changes are significant and may require some changes in the way you perform your compliance efforts. We strongly encourage you to amend your existing HazCom program to account for these changes as necessary.

1. Exemption for Wood and Wood Products

This might be considered the change with the greatest impact on employers, particularly if you are in the construction trades. As you know, HazCom applies to the use of ‘hazardous substances,’ which is well defined in the standard. It is also clear that several substances are specifically exempted from the standard. These exemptions can be found in Section 5194(b)(5). One such exemption is for "wood and wood products." Treated wood was never an exempted product. The newly adopted language clarifies that the exemption for wood and wood products does not apply to wood that will be sawed or cut, generating dust. That is, if you cut lumber, the dust that is generated from cutting is considered a hazardous substance and a material safety data sheet is therefore required, as well as providing training and information to your employees. This change was made to acknowledge the determinations of the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Toxicology Program on wood dust. The IARC and NTP monographs on Wood Dust concluded that wood dust is carcinogenic to humans. NTP states in its monograph that "wood dust is known to be a human carcinogen, based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in humans. An association between wood dust exposure and cancer of the nose has been observed in many case reports, cohort studies, and case control studies that specifically addressed nasal cancer."

2. Updating Labels

Another change involved labeling of hazardous materials. The Standards Board adopted a requirement that labels on hazardous substances be updated within three months of the manufacturer, importer, distributor or employer becoming newly aware of significant hazard information.

3. Changes to MSDSs

It is clearly stated in Section 5194(g)(2) that material safety data sheets must be in English. The Standards Board adopted a change that gives permission to employers to maintain MSDS in languages other than English in addition to the required English-language version.

Another significant change that was adopted by the Standards Board deals with the acceptance of fax-on-demand, email, and other methods currently available for the maintenance of MSDSs. The Standards Board adopted language that give employers explicit permission to maintain material safety data sheets in non-paper versions, so long as the method of maintaining the MSDS does not create a barrier to immediate employee access. The term "no barrier to immediate access" was clarified in a letter from the previous director, Dr. John Howard, who stated that employers who used an electronic means for maintaining MSDSs still need a reliable back-up system in case of system failure, e.g., power outage, telephone lines out, etc. In addition, the change addresses the availability of MSDSs for immediate access by medical personnel in case of emergency. In short, it seems employers must still have hard copies of MSDSs even though an electronic management system will be used.

4. Employee Training

Using verbiage from the Injury and Illness Prevention Program, the Standards Board added the word, "effective" to the HazCom employee training requirement. That is, rather than requiring employers to just provide HazCom training to their employees, the training that is provided must be effective, which we believe to mean understandable by all.