General Responsibilities
The Hazard Communication Standard
OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) (29 CFR 1910.1200 ) requires employers to provide employees with information about hazardous chemicals in their work areas.
OSHA updated the HCS in 2024 to align primarily with Revision 7 of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
OSHA's current HCS 2024 compliance schedule sets compliance dates of May 19, 2026, for manufacturers, importers, and distributors evaluating substances and November 19, 2027, for those evaluating mixtures. Employers must complete corresponding workplace-label, written-program, and employee-training updates by November 20, 2026, for substances and May 19, 2028, for mixtures. During the transition, regulated parties may comply with the previous HCS, the revised HCS, or both.
The GHS provides consistent criteria for classifying chemical hazards and communicating them through labels and safety data sheets. OSHA's HCS applies these criteria to covered workplace hazards in the United States.
The HCS requires chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors, and employers to communicate hazard information:
- Chemical manufacturers and importers must classify the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import, and prepare labels and safety data sheets to convey the hazard information to their downstream customers.
- Employers with hazardous chemicals in their workplaces must maintain labels and safety data sheets for exposed employees and provide effective 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.
Employers that use hazardous chemicals must ensure employees know where the chemicals are present, understand their hazards, and know the protective measures required in their workplace.
Written Hazard Communication Program
Employers must develop, implement, and maintain a written hazard communication program at each workplace where hazardous chemicals are present. The program must describe how the employer will meet the requirements for labels and other warnings, safety data sheets, and employee information and training.
The written program must include a list of the hazardous chemicals known to be present, using a product identifier that matches the appropriate safety data sheet. It must also explain how employees will be informed about the hazards of non-routine tasks and chemicals in unlabeled pipes.
At a multi-employer workplace where another employer's employees may be exposed, the program must also describe how the employer will provide access to safety data sheets and communicate required precautionary measures and the workplace labeling system.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-1. All employers with hazardous chemicals in their workplaces must provide _____.
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