OSHA Issues Proposed Rule To Update Its Hazard Communication Standard

Employers have been on the lookout for a temporary emergency standard for COVID-19 from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), but what they have thus far received is a proposed rule to update the agency's Hazard Communication Standard. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2021.

Admittedly, the proposed rule is not completely unexpected. OSHA incorporated the United Nations' Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) into the Hazard Communication Standard in 2012 to specify requirements for hazard classification and to standardize label components and information on safety data sheets (SDSs). The agency also previously stated its intent to "maintain alignment" of the Hazard Communication Standard with more recent revisions of the GHS. However, the United Nations updates and revises the GHS every two years; this item has been pending on OSHA's regulatory agenda since 2014.