OSHA Issues Proposed Update To Hazard Communication Standard

On February 5, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule updating its Hazard Communication ("Haz Com") Standard to align its rules with those in the seventh version of the United Nation's Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), published in 2017.  OSHA's proposed regulatory update is being issued as the United States' major international trading partners, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and those in Europe, similarly prepare to align their own hazard communications rules with the seventh version of the GHS.

Originally established in 1983, OSHA's Haz Com Standard provides a systematized approach to communicating workplace hazards associated with exposure to hazardous chemicals.  Under the Haz Com Standard, chemical manufacturers and/or importers are required to classify the hazards of chemicals which they produce or import into the United States, and all employers are