Hazard Communication an Employee’s Right to Know

About one in every four workers routinely comes in contact with hazardous chemicals while performing his or her job. In many cases, the chemicals may be no more dangerous than those used at home. But in the workplace, exposure is likely to be greater, concentrations higher, and exposure time longer. Reactions to chemical exposures range from slight skin, eye, or respiratory irritation to life-threatening cancers, blood diseases, and debilitating lung damage.

OSHA developed the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to protect workers from these dangerous exposures. The standard is based on a simple concept — that employees have both a need and a right to know about the hazards and identities of the chemicals they are exposed to when working. They also need to know what they can do to protect themselves. Additionally, when employers have information about the chemicals being used, they can take steps to reduce exposures, substitute less hazardous materials, and establish safe work practices to prevent illnesses and injuries caused by these substances.

The HCS establishes uniform requirements to make sure that the hazards of all chemicals imported into, produced, or used in U.S. workplaces are evaluated and that this hazard information is forwarded to employers and exposed employees. Basically, the rule incorporates a downstream flow of information. This means that chemical manufacturers have the primary responsibility for generating and disseminating information and chemical users must obtain the information and transmit it to their exposed employees.

Evaluating chemical hazards involves technical concepts and is a process that requires the professional judgement of experienced experts. That’s why the HCS is designed so that employers who simply use chemicals, rather than produce or import them, are not required to evaluate the hazards of those substances.

Hazard determination is the responsibility of the producers and importers of the materials, who must then pass that information to the purchasers and end-users of the products. Employers that don’t produce or import chemicals need only focus on those parts of the rule that deal with establishing a workplace program and communicating information to their workers.

Interface with other standards | Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens

A revision to the Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses rule was published January 19, 2001 and became effective January 1, 2002. Paragraph 1904.8 requires all work-related injuries from needlesticks and cuts, lacerations, punctures and scratches from sharp objects contaminated with another person’s blood or OPIM to be recorded on the OSHA 300 as an injury. To protect the employee’s privacy, the employees name may not be entered on the OSHA 300. Paragraphs 1904.29(b)(6) thru (b)(9) discuss privacy concerns. Employers must keep a separate confidential list of the case numbers and employee names so they can update the cases or provide them if asked by the government. If the employee develops a bloodborne disease, the entry must be updated and recorded as an illness.

The Hazard Communication standard, §1910.1200, applies only to the hazards of chemicals in the workplace and does not apply to biological hazards such as bloodborne diseases.

Records concerning employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens and records about HIV and/or HBV status are both considered employee medical records within the meaning of §1910.1020. Under §1913.10(b)(4), the Compliance Officer may review these records onsite for verification of compliance with the medical surveillance requirements. If requested, this review shall be conducted under the observation of the medical record holder or other employer designated healthcare professional. The compliance officer should not record or take offsite any information from the medical record other than documentation of the fact of compliance or noncompliance.

Generally, compliance/noncompliance verification requires no additional action (i.e., in-depth review, copying, and/or removal of confidential medical information from the worksite) on behalf of the compliance officer. If additional or more detailed information is required for clarification, or to support a suspected violation, the compliance officer is advised to seek a medical access order (MAO) for obtaining the necessary information from the Director (Medical Records Officer), Office of Occupational Medicine. Also, when a compliance officer anticipates, or if it is known that there may be a problem in gaining access to confidential medical information/medical records, or the employer denies access during the course of the inspection, the compliance officer is advised to obtain an administrative subpoena (from the regional solicitor) in addition to the MAO before looking at any confidential medical information or medical records.

Generally, the Respiratory Protection standard, §1910.134, does not apply. However, placing or storing respirators in areas where they could be contaminated by body fluids constitutes a violation of §1910.134(h)(2)(i) or §1910.139(b)(6), if the respirator is used for protection against tuberculosis.

The Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard, §1910.120, covers four groups of employees: workers at uncontrolled hazardous waste remediation sites; workers at Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permitted hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities; workers performing corrective actions involving cleanup operations at RCRA sites; and those workers expected to respond to emergencies caused by the uncontrolled release of a hazardous substance.

1. The definition of hazardous substance includes any biological agent or infectious material which may cause disease or death. There are potential scenarios where the bloodborne and HAZWOPER standards may interface, such as: workers involved in cleanup operations at hazardous waste sites involving infectious waste; workers at RCRA permitted incinerators that burn infectious waste; workers at RCRA permitted incinerators that burn infectious waste and that are involved in cleanup operations; and workers responding to an emergency caused by the uncontrolled release of infectious material, e.g., a transportation accident.

2. Employers of employees engaged in these types of activities must comply with the requirements in §1910.120 as well as the bloodborne pathogens standard. If there is a conflict or overlap, the provision that is more protective of employee safety and health applies.
This directive provides guidance for enforcement of the Bloodborne Pathogens standard. The agency’s application of this policy in any particular matter will, however, depend upon all relevant circumstances. For purposes of providing information and guidance, this directive also restates, clarifies, or explains the provisions of the standard. OSHA’s restatement, clarification or explanation of the requirements of the standard does not amend the standard or create new legal duties, obligations or defenses.

Recordkeeping | Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens

§1910.1030(h)

Records are required to be kept for each employee covered by this standard for training, as well as for medical records.

1.  Medical records required by paragraph (h)(1) will be of particular importance to the healthcare professional in determining vaccination status and recommendation for treatment in the event of an exposure incident. Although the employer is required to establish and maintain medical records, he/she may contract for the services of a healthcare professional located offsite and that person or company may retain the records.

The requirements of §1910.1020 apply. In particular, §1910.1020(d)(1)(i)(C) provides that the medical records of employees who have worked for less than one (1) year need not be retained beyond the term of employment if they are provided to the employee upon termination of employment.

Note

While paragraph (h)(1)(iii) requires that medical records are to be kept confidential, paragraph (h)(1)(iii)(B) stipulates that disclosure is permitted when required by this standard or other Federal, State, or local law.

Inspection guidelines: All medical records required to be kept by this standard are also required to be made available to OSHA. The Compliance Officer must protect the confidentiality of these records. If they are copied for the case file, the provisions of §1913.10 must be followed.

The Compliance Officer should review the employer’s recordkeeping program to ensure that the required information is collected, and provision has been made to ensure the confidentiality of the medical records in accordance with §1910.1020. While §1910.1020(a) makes allowances for its provisions being carried out on behalf of the employer, §1910.1020(b)(3) states that “each employer must ensure that the preservation and access requirements are complied with regardless of the manner in which the records are made or maintained.” If the employer has contracted with a responsible third party to maintain the required records, the employer should only be cited for deficiencies of which she/he knew or could have known with the exercise of reasonable diligence.

2.  Paragraph (h)(2) requires accurate recordkeeping of training sessions, including titles of the employees who attend. The records are necessary to assist the employer and OSHA in determining whether the training program adequately addresses the risks involved in each job. Additionally, this information is helpful in tracking the relationship between exposure incidents (e.g., needles-ticks) and various jobs and the corresponding level of training.

Training records may be stored onsite where the actual documents will be easily accessible for review. In order to ensure that the employee training is complete, all the components of the program required by paragraph (g)(2)(vii) must be covered.

Training records are not considered to be confidential. Training records may be stored onsite where the actual documents are readily accessible. They must be retained for three years from the training date.

3.  Paragraph (h)(5) requires employers to establish and maintain a sharps injury log for the recording of percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps. This log is separate from the log of injuries and illnesses kept under Part 1904. Employers who are already partially exempt from Part 1904 recordkeeping requirements (See 29 CFR 1904.1 and 1904.2) are not required to keep a sharps injury log, but are encouraged to do so. Federal agencies will be required to keep a sharps injury log by a revision to Part 1960 that is currently under review.

The log must include the type and brand of device involved in the incident, the department or work area where the exposure incident occurred and an explanation of how the incident occurred so that the intended evaluation of risk and device effectiveness can be accomplished. More information may be included; however the confidentiality of the injured employee must be maintained throughout the process. If the nature of the incident is such that determining the type and brand of the device would increase the potential for additional exposure (e.g., housekeeper stuck through trash bag), the type/brand may be recorded as “Unknown.”

The purpose of the log is to aid in the evaluation of devices being used in the workplace and to quickly identify problem areas in the facility. Thus, it should be reviewed regularly and during the review and update of the Exposure Control Plan.

If the data is made available to other parties (e.g., supervisors, safety committees, employees, employee representatives), any information that directly identifies an employee or any information that could reasonably be used to identify the employee must be withheld. Logs must be saved for at least five years following the end of the calendar year that they cover.

Inspection guidelines: The format of the sharps injury log is not specified. The employer is permitted to determine the format in which the log is maintained (e.g. paper or electronic) and may include information in addition to that required by the standard, so long as the privacy of the injured worker is protected. Many employers already compile reports of percutaneous injuries to comply with paragraph (f)(3). Existing mechanisms for collecting these reports could be considered sufficient to meet the requirements for maintaining a log provided that the information meets the minimum requirements specified by the standard and the confidentiality of the injured employee is protected.

Citation guidelines: Employers partially exempt from recordkeeping requirements under §1904 are exempt from the requirement of maintaining a sharps injury log, but are encouraged to do so. All employers, however, must still comply with the post-exposure documentation requirements of paragraphs (f)(3) and the annual review documentation requirements of (c)(1)(iv), even when a physical log is not required.