Tag Archives: chemicals

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Worker Safety

Chemical Hazard Communication Program

Every employer in Washington State is required to create and follow its own written Chemical Hazard Communication Program (HazCom) when employees work with or  are around hazardous chemicals. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries offers free Consultation assistance for employers that need more help building a HazCom program.

Globally Harmonized System for Hazard Communication (Chapter 296-901, WAC) was among  top-10 most frequently cited rules for all businesses in 2019. See the others on the “Top-10 Rule Violations” page.

Learn the basics about chemical safety and educate your workers to avoid injuries and illness from chemical hazards. Sample program templates are available in English and Spanish:

OSHA Chemical Safety Standards

In order to ensure chemical safety in the workplace, information about the identities and hazards of the chemicals must be available and understandable to workers. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires the development and dissemination of such information:

Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to evaluate the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import, and prepare labels and safety data sheets to convey the hazard information to their downstream customers;

All employers with hazardous chemicals in their workplaces must have labels and safety data sheets for their exposed workers, and train them to handle the chemicals appropriately. The training for employees must also include information on the hazards of the chemicals in their work area and the measures to be used to protect themselves.

For more information see OSHA’s Hazard Communication page.

More Information on Chemicals in the Workplace

The OSHA Occupational Chemical Database compiles information from several government agencies and organizations. Information available on the pages includes chemical identification and physical properties, exposure limits, sampling information, and additional resources.

The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards contains information on several hundred chemicals commonly found in the workplace; The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substances Inventory lists information on more than 62,000 chemicals or chemical substances; EPA’s ChemView provides information on test data and assessments; some libraries maintain files of material safety data sheets (MSDS) for more than 100,000 substances.

Prior Posts on Related Topics
Chemical ExposureGovernment, Workers' Compensation, workplace injury, workplace safety

Chemical Exposure in Chicken Plants

Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.

Several members of Congress have written to Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell regarding the danger of the chemical PAA, which is used to sanitize chickens in poultry plants.

According to The Pump Handle blog written by occupational health expert Celeste Monforton, the increase in the use of PAA is linked to the Department of Agriculture’s “modernized inspection” system. Though meatpacking is well known for the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries, chemical exposure is a less well-known, but similarly serious hazard, to meatpacking workers, which has been recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The hazards of chemical exposure are not limited to meat-processing workers. Chemical exposure fatalities are too common in rural America. Recently, a worker on an industrial cleaning crew in Beatrice, Nebraska, was killed from inhaling industrial cleaning chemicals. In October, a resident of northeast Nebraska was killed after inhaling chemicals from a leak in anhydrous ammonia pipeline. That same month, 125 residents of Atchison, Kansas, sought treatment for inhalation of chlorine gas from an explosion at a distiller.

While chemical exposure can often result in sudden death, ongoing exposure to chemicals can also create injuries that may not be apparent for years after the exposure. Unfortunately, Nebraska limits the ability of workers to recover for such injuries.

The letter about the hazards of PAA was written to outgoing cabinet members. The new Trump administration is expected to have a less-aggressive approach toward regulating the workplace. Hopefully the new administration will take the threat posed by hazardous chemicals in the workplace seriously.