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Right-to-Know Laws* or
Hazard Communication Standards
There is some confusion about the use of hazardous chemicals in schools and about
how the relevant “Right-to-Know” laws apply to schools. Let’s set the record straight
for public schools. The U.S. government has passed the Hazard Communication
Standard (usually referred to as the “Right-to-Know” law) and the Laboratory
Standard, but these laws do not extend coverage to state and local governments.
However, almost all state governments have either passed their own version of the
Hazard Communication Standard or put their stamp of approval on the federal laws
and extended their jurisdiction to cover local and state governmental bodies—
including public schools. Federal jurisdiction does apply to all private schools.
The purpose of these laws is to inform employees about any hazards associated
with an employee’s work. Employees have the “Right-to-Know” about all the hazards
they might deal with in the workplace.
Flinn Scientific is Your Safer Source…
Flinn will help you meet all the requirements of the Right-to-Know laws with
easy-to-use and affordable solutions. From the teacher favorite Flinn Scientific
Catalog/Reference Manual to the informative Flinn website at www.flinnsci.com
to our helpful Technical Services department, you are never more than a phone
call (800-452-1261) or email (flinn@flinnsci.com) away from the best safety
advice available. We have more than 40 years of experience helping teachers
solve their safety problems, so let us help you meet your legal requirements of
the Right-to-Know Laws.
GHS Revision
In March 2012, OSHA published the first major revision to the Hazard Communication
Standard since its inception. In announcing the revision to incorporate what is
known as GHS, OSHA stated that its goal was to transform the “Right-to-Know” into
the right to understand chemical hazards. GHS stands for the Globally Harmonized
System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. GHS is a document that
establishes objective criteria for classifying and identifying chemical hazards.
The overarching goal is to ensure the safe use of chemicals by providing practical,
reliable and comprehensible information on their hazards. GHS provides a set of
objective criteria for classifying the physical and health hazards of chemicals.
To remove ambiguity about the degree of risk inherent in using a chemical, GHS
further specifies the use of standard symbols and language elements to convey the
hazard information on chemical labels. Hazardous chemical labels are now required
to include pictograms, a signal word and specific hazard and precautionary
statements.
Major Requirements
The federal and most statutory Right-to-Know laws contain the following six
requirements or provisions.
1. Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)
SDSs are the primary way of communicating the hazards of a chemical to an
employee or an employer. The SDS provision of the law requires the employer
to acquire, update and maintain SDSs for all of the hazardous chemicals used
or stored in the facility and to make those SDSs available to the employee for
informational purposes.
The minimum standards for an SDS include:
• Written in English
• Chemical name
• Hazards identification with GHS signal word, pictograms, hazard class and
applicable hazard statements
• Hazardous components
• Physical characteristics (e.g., density, flash point)
• Physical hazards (e.g., fire, explosion, reactivity)
• Health hazards (both chronic and acute)—All signs or symptoms of exposure
must be listed. Carcinogens must be identified.
• Primary routes of entry and target organs
• Permissible exposure limits or Threshold Limit Value (TLV)
• Any applicable precautions (e.g., gloves, goggles, fume hood)
• First aid and emergency procedures (e.g., chemical splash, spill handling)
• Date prepared
• Name and address of the manufacturer or SDS preparer, including the phone
number
2. Hazardous Materials List
A list of all hazardous chemicals must be assembled. In most states, this list is
kept only by the employer, and access is given to the employee upon request.
Some states require a copy of this list to be given to the fire department or some
other state agency. See the state-by-state breakdown of the Right-to-Know laws
on page 1186 for further details.
3. Inventory
The hazardous materials list and an up-to-date inventory usually go hand in
hand. Both the list and the inventory must be continually updated. An inventory
of all hazardous chemicals is an essential requirement of most Right-to-Know
laws. An inventory consists of the name of the chemical, how much you have
and where it is stored.
4. Notification
All laws require the employer to notify the employee of any potential exposure
or actual exposure to a hazardous substance. This initially is accomplished by
posting the Right-to-Know regulations on a poster where it easily can be read
and will be noticed by the employee. Notification is also accomplished through
training and employee access to SDSs.
Flinn Is Your Source for Safety Training
Annual safety training is required in most states. Flinn Scientific trains more
than 5,000 teachers every year through the Flinn Scientific Laboratory Safety
Seminars. This safety seminar is also available as a fast-paced, two-hour video
that is perfect for in-service programs or new teacher training. To help satisfy
annual training requirements, Flinn provides free monthly safety training
through the Flinn Science Department Safety Training Notes. These safety notes
are sent out every month via email. To receive this valuable training aid, please
call Flinn or sign up on our website at www.flinnsci.com.
Many teachers consider the Flinn Scientific Catalog/Reference Manual their
“safety bible” and use it as the source of their informal safety training. The Flinn
technical staff also writes numerous safety articles every year that are emailed
to our customers or available on the Flinn website. Count on Flinn for your safety
training needs.
* The Right-to-Know law summary information listed here was obtained from reliable sources. For more
information, go to www.flinnsci.com/safety for the name and address of the agency in your state that
regulates these laws and standards. RIGHT-TO-KNOW LAWS OR HAZARD COMMUNICATION STANDARDS continued on next page.
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