Preparing for Important GHS Compliance Deadlines

Preparing for GHS Compliance Deadlines

Are you an employer that requires employees to work with or around hazardous chemicals or materials? Having and maintaining a successful chemical safety program is critical not only to the well-being of your employees, but also necessary to gain compliance with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Since OSHA’s regulations are constantly changing and evolving, it is important to understand what your responsibility is to keep your workplace safe.

December 1, 2013 was the first compliance deadline for OSHA’s version of the Globally Harmonized System on Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). Since then, OSHA has designated three more deadlines to fully integrate the new GHS format, with compliance coming on June 1, 2016. Industry Leaders speculated fines for noncompliance with GHS would be one of the top ten OSHA trends to watch in 2014, and with more deadlines on the horizon, this trend is likely to increase in 2015 and beyond.

Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are the cornerstone of Hazard Communication Standard and Chemical Regulatory Requirements. They can also be a costly and time-consuming element to manage in order to remain compliant. June 1, 2015 marks the second OSHA deadline that will require manufacturers to convert their current Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) to the new SDS and GHS labels. To better understand the importance and compliance of a successful safety program, download the free White Paper: GHS Compliance: Mitigating the Risk of Evolving Chemical Regulations written by the panel of experts at Source Intelligence.