Hazard Communications
More than 30 million workers in the United States are potentially exposed to one or more chemical hazards. There are an estimated 650,000 existing hazardous chemical products, and hundreds of new ones are being introduced annually. This poses a serious problem for exposed workers and their employers.
The OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) - 29 CFR 1910.1200 provides workers exposed to hazardous chemicals with the identities and hazards of those materials, as well as appropriate protective measures. When workers have such information, they are able to take steps to protect themselves from experiencing adverse effects from exposure.
Employees need to be familiar with OSHA's hazard communication standards to help save lives and avoid OSHA citations.
Look at OSHA's Top 10 most frequently cited violations for 2020 by clicking on the image to the right.
Protection under the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) includes all workers exposed to hazardous chemicals in all industrial sectors. This standard is based on a simple concept - that employees have both a need and a right to know the hazards and the identities of the chemicals they are exposed to when working. They also need to know what protective measures are available to prevent adverse effects from occurring.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-1. How many hazardous chemicals are estimated to exist in the workplace?
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