2012 Hazard Communication System Summary

When first introduced in 1983, the OSHA hazard communication system brought major improvement s in the workplace by increasing the availability of chemical hazards in the workplace (Trout & Haling, 2013). The Hazcom 1983 provided the workers with the “right to know” with regards to chemical hazards (Trout & Haling, 2013). The 2012 HCS privides the workers with the “right to understand”, the major difference resides in the fact that a large number of workers were not able to understand the information available on the MSDS (Trout & Haling, 2013). With this in mind, OSHA improved the 2012 HCs to ensure that the workers will not only be able to know the information but also to understand it (Trout & Haling, 2013).
The 2012 Hazard Communication Standard includes four major changes:
1) The Hazard Classification which provides specific criteria for the classification mixtures, health and physical hazards (Trout & Haling, 2013).
2) Labels: The labels produced by the chemical manufacturers will now be …show more content…
Dates:
December 1, 2013: Employers have to train all their employees on the new labeling system and the safety datasheet format (Trout & Haling, 2013).
June 1, 2015: Manufacturers of chemical products must complete a chemical reclassification and update the appropriate SDS labels. They also must ship products and labels compliant under HCS 212 (Trout & Haling, 2013).
December 1, 2015: The distributors and importers of chemical products must start shipping products and labels compliant with the new HCS 2012 (Trout & Haling, 2013).
June 1, 2016: Employers must provide additional training for new health or physical hazards and update alternative workplace labeling and hazard communication program if it is necessary (Trout & Haling,