Introduction to Hazard Communication

OSHAcademy Course 105 Study Guide. — Geigle Safety Group, 2017. — 26 p.More than 30 million workers are potentially exposed to one or more chemical hazards in the workplace. There are an estimated 650,000 existing hazardous chemical products and hundreds of new ones are being introduced annually. This poses a serious challenge for employers as well as a health and safety hazard for exposed employees.Because of the seriousness of these safety and health problems, and because many employers and employees know little or nothing about them, OSHA issued the original Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) in 1994. The basic goal of the standard is to be sure employers and employees know about work hazards and how to protect themselves; this should help to reduce the incidence of chemical source illness and injuries. As you can see below, Hazard Communication is close to the top of OSHA's Top Ten Cited Standards and is consistently at or near the top each year.