In the wake of the WV water contamination, the public dialogue revolves around the need for more information and disclosure about the potential health effects of toxic chemicals. A newish OSHA regulation does just the opposite for workers exposed to chemical hazards.
The OSHA staff responsible to modernizing the agency’s chemical right-to-know regulation with global standards deserve credit for completing the rule itself. Unlike other federal agencies, they also create a meaningful public record documenting who said what about the proposed changes to labeling and safety data sheet requirements. (Re-post)
Earlier this week, Lizzie Grossman reported here at The Pump Handle on revisions to OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard which align the agency’s 30 year old rule with a globally harmonized system for classifying and labeling chemical hazards. In “Moving from Right-to-Know to Right-to-Understand,” we learn how the changes stem from a 2002 United Nations resolution […]
by Elizabeth Grossman His job, the Metalworkers Alliance of the Philippines union leader told us, was assembling the electronics – the wire- or cable-harnesses – that go into cars. The work involved soldering, using flux, along with epoxies, and various degreasers or solvents. He and his co-workers didn’t know the actual names of the substances […]