The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the Department of Labor of the United States of America has taken the first step towards the implementation of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) with the publication of the revised Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) on the Federal Register on 26 March 2012.
The United States of America thus join some 43 countries around the world that have already implemented or are in the process of implementing the GHS, including: New Zealand, Mauritius, the Republic of Korea, the 27 member States of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, Russian Federation, Singapore, Switzerland, Uruguay and Viet Nam. Other countries continue to revise and amend their legal texts, standards and guidelines to achieve implementation of the GHS as soon as possible.
"Exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of the most serious threats facing American workers today," said the Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. "Revising OSHA's Hazard Communication standard will improve the quality and consistency of hazard information, making it safer for workers to do their jobs and easier for employers to stay competitive."
According to Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michaels, OSHA’s 1983 Hazard Communication Standard gave workers the right to know while the revised standard will give them the right to understand as well.
The GHS addresses classification of chemicals by types of hazards and proposes harmonized hazard communication elements. It aims at ensuring that information on chemical hazards be available in order to enhance the protection of human life and the environment during the handling, transport and use of these chemicals. The GHS also provides a basis for harmonization of rules and regulations on chemicals at national, regional and worldwide level and it has been designed to allow industry to self-classify its products.
In the overview of the final rule, OSHA states that the GHS modifications improve the HCS by providing more extensive criteria for defining the hazards in a consistent manner, as well as standardizing label elements and SDS formats to help to ensure that the information is conveyed consistently.
The revised HCS will become effective on 25 May 2012 although it will not become mandatory until 1 June 2015. During this phase-in period, and to give industry enough time to produce labels and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) consistent with the revised provisions, employers will be allowed to use at their own discretion, the existing HCS, the revised one, or both.
OSHA estimates that the implementation of the GHS in the workplace will increase the safety of some 43 million workers potentially exposed to hazardous chemicals working in over 5 million workplaces in the United States. It is expected that this will result in savings of $475.2 million from productivity improvements for health and safety managers and logistics personnel, $32.2 million during periodic updating of SDSs and labels, and $285.3 million from simplified hazard communication training.
The revised standard will also contribute to reduce trade barriers and result in productivity improvements for companies handling, storing, using and exporting chemicals.
For further information on the GHS and its status of implementation worldwide, please visit: http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/ghs_welcome_e.html
Note to editors
The first edition of the GHS was adopted in December 2002 by the Sub-Committee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (SCEGHS), and endorsed by the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. Both the Committee and the Sub-Committee are subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to which the UNECE's Transport Division provides secretariat services
OSHA’s statement:http://www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/index.html
Text of the final rule in the Federal Register, http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=22607