Scope of the Standard
The scope of the HCS includes all workplaces and specifically to employers who manufacture, distribute, or use hazardous chemicals.
Chemical manufacturers and importers must evaluate chemicals produced in their workplaces or imported by them to classify the chemicals in accordance with 1910.1200.
For each chemical, the chemical manufacturer or importer must determine the hazard classes, and where appropriate, the category of each class that apply to the chemical being classified.
The hazard classification must include any hazards associated with the chemical’s intrinsic properties including:
- a change in the chemical’s physical form and;
- chemical reaction products associated with known or reasonably anticipated uses or applications.
Employers are not required to classify chemicals unless they choose not to rely on the classification performed by the chemical manufacturer or importer for the chemical.
It requires distributors to transmit the required chemical information to employers.
It requires all employers to provide information to their employees about the hazardous chemicals to which they are exposed, by means of:
- A hazard communication program
- Labels and other forms of warning
- Safety data sheets (SDS)
- Information and training
Employers who do not produce or import chemicals need only focus on those parts of this rule that deal with establishing a workplace program and communicating information to their workers.
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1-3. When are employers required to classify chemicals?
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