OSHA is proposing to modify its existing
Hazard Communication Standard
(HCS) to conform with the United Nations’
Globally Harmonized System of
Classification and Labeling of Chemicals
(GHS).
In a preliminary determination, OSHA
has determined that the proposed modifications
will improve the quality and consistency
of information provided to
employers and employees regarding chemical
hazards and associated protective
measures.
The agency thinks the improved information
will enhance the effectiveness of
the HCS in ensuring that employees are
apprised of the chemical hazards to
which they may be exposed, and in reducing
the incidence of chemical-related
occupational illnesses and injuries.
The proposed modifications to the
standard include revised criteria for classification
of chemical hazards; revised
labeling provisions that include requirements
for use of standardized signal
words, pictograms, hazard statements,
and precautionary statements; a specified
format for safety data sheets; and related
revisions to definitions of terms used in
the standard, requirements for employee
training on labels and safety data sheets.
OSHA is also proposing to modify
provisions of a number of other standards,
including standards for flammable
and combustible liquids, process
safety management, and most substance-
specific health standards, to ensure
consistency with the modified HCS
requirements.
The current HCS requires chemical
manufacturers and importers to evaluate
the hazards of the chemicals they produce
or import and provide information
to subsequent users. It requires all employers
to have a hazard communication
program for workers exposed to hazardous
chemicals. The program includes
materials such as container labels, safety
data sheets, and employee training.
The GHS was developed to provide a
single, harmonized system to classify
chemicals, labels and safety data sheets
with the primary benefit of increasing the
quality and consistency of information
provided to workers, employers and
chemical users. Under the GHS, labels would include signal words, pictograms,
and hazard and precautionary statements.
Additionally, information on
safety data sheets would be presented in
a designated order.
“The proposal to align the hazard communication
standard with the GHS will
improve the consistency and effectiveness
of hazard communications and reduce
chemical-related injuries, illnesses
and fatalities,” said acting Assistant Secretary
of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab.
“Following the GHS approach will increase
workplace safety, facilitate international
trade in chemicals, and generate
cost savings from production efficiencies
for firms that manufacture and use
hazardous chemicals.”
Infectious Disease Experts Concerned
About H1N1 N95 Guidance
The announcement by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
to modify its guidance regarding measures
to be taken by healthcare workers
in contact with either confirmed or suspected
cases of H1N1 was met with concern
by the scientific community that had
submitted its recommendations to CDC.
CDC emphasizes a multi-pronged approach
to protecting healthcare workers
from H1N1, including priority use of
N95 fit-tested respirators.
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology
of America (SHEA) had urged
CDC, based on clinical experience and
scientific evidence, to remove the use of N95 respirators from its recommendations
for routine care in favor of the
first-line use of surgical masks, as one
component of a cadre of prevention
measures.
Instead, N95 respirators should be reserved
for procedures associated with a
higher risk of aerosolization of the virus.
“Our position was and continues to be
that N95s are neither necessary nor practical
in protecting healthcare workers and
patients against H1N1,” said Mark Rupp,
MD of the University of Nebraska Medical
Center and president of SHEA. “The
best science available leaves no doubt
that the best way to protect people is by
vaccinating them.”
The scientific community acknowledged
that the CDC came under intense
pressure from labor unions to recommend
the use of N95 fit-tested respirators despite
the fact that respirators do not provide
any added protection in clinical
situations against droplet transmissible
diseases such as H1N1.
SHEA, whose membership is comprised
of doctors and nurses on the front lines caring for patients with the flu, emphasizes
the concern that continuing to
recommend that respirators be used in
routine care has major implications for
both patient care and healthcare worker
safety.
“We could actually put healthcare
workers at greater risk by further reducing
an already short supply of a device
that is needed for high-risk procedures
such as bronchoscopy by using it for
routine care,” said Rupp.
As acknowledged by the CDC guidance,
“It is important to remember that
protecting against the spread of H1N1,
or any type of flu, requires a multi-level
approach, and the most effective measure
for protection is vaccination,” said Rupp,
adding that “unfortunately this debate on
respirators versus masks has distracted
hospitals and clinics from investing in efforts
that we know will pay off such as
rigorous and consistent application of basic
infection control and personal hygiene
practices including adherence to
cough etiquette and hand hygiene, rapid
identification and separation of patients with the virus, and excluding sick workers
and visitors from the hospital.”
“Along with scientists around the
world, we will continue to research
H1N1 and its transmissibility,” said
Rupp. “We understand the role of the
CDC in providing reassurance during a
period of evolving evidence, and we
urge the CDC to continue to revisit its
recommendations as new data becomes
available.”
OSHA Begins National Emphasis
Program on Recordkeeping
OSHA is initiating a national emphasis
program (NEP) on recordkeeping to assess
the accuracy of injury and illness
data recorded by employers.
The recordkeeping NEP involves inspecting
occupational injury and illness
records prepared by businesses and appropriately
enforcing regulatory requirements
when employers are found to be
under-recording injuries and illnesses.
“Accurate and honest recordkeeping is
vitally important to workers’ health and
safety,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “This
information is not only used by OSHA
to determine which workplaces to inspect,
but it is an important tool employers
and workers can use to identify health
and safety problems in their workplaces.”
The inspections include a records review,
employee interviews, and a limited
safety and health inspection of the workplace.
The NEP will focus on selected industries
with high injury and illness rates.
At the request of the Senate Committee
on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
and the House Committee on
Education and Labor, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) issued a
study on the accuracy of employer injury
and illness records. This NEP will help
OSHA work cooperatively with the
GAO.
It also complements the Labor Department’s
Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS)
efforts to investigate factors accounting
for differences between the number of
workplace injuries and illnesses estimated
by BLS and those estimated by
other data sources. FSM
