Section 296-901-14004. Scope and application.

(1) This section requires chemical manufacturers or importers to classify the hazards of chemicals which they produce or import, and all employers to provide information to their employees about the hazardous chemicals to which they are exposed, by means of a hazard communication program, labels and other forms of warning, safety data sheets, and information and training. In addition, this section requires distributors to transmit the required information to employers. (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.)

(2) This section applies to any chemical which is known to be present in the workplace in such a manner that employees may be exposed under normal conditions of use or in a foreseeable emergency.

(3) This section applies to laboratories only as follows:

(a) Employers must ensure that labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals are not removed or defaced;

(b) Employers must maintain any safety data sheets that are received with incoming shipments of hazardous chemicals, and ensure that they are readily accessible during each workshift to laboratory employees when they are in their work areas;

(c) Employers must ensure that laboratory employees are provided information and training in accordance with WAC 296-901-14016, except for the location and availability of the written hazard communication program under WAC 296-901-14016 (2)(c); and

(d) Laboratory employers that ship hazardous chemicals are considered to be either a chemical manufacturer or a distributor under this rule, and thus must ensure that any containers of hazardous chemicals leaving the laboratory are labeled in accordance with WAC 296-901-14012, and that a safety data sheet is provided to distributors and other employers in accordance with WAC 296-901-14014 (5)(a) and (6).

(4) In work operations where employees only handle chemicals in sealed containers which are not opened under normal conditions of use (such as are found in marine cargo handling, warehousing, or retail sales), this section applies to these operations only as follows:

(a) Employers must ensure that labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals are not removed or defaced;

(b) Employers must maintain copies of any safety data sheets that are received with incoming shipments of the sealed containers of hazardous chemicals, must obtain a safety data sheet as soon as possible for sealed containers of hazardous chemicals received without a safety data sheet if an employee requests the safety data sheet, and must ensure that the safety data sheets are readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area(s); and

(c) Employers must ensure that employees are provided with information and training in accordance with WAC 296-901-14016 (except for the location and availability of the written hazard communication program under WAC 296-901-14016 (2)(c), to the extent necessary to protect them in the event of a spill or leak of a hazardous chemical from a sealed container.

(5) This section does not require labeling of the following chemicals:

(a) Any pesticide as such term is defined in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.), when subject to the labeling requirements of that act and labeling regulations issued under that act by the Environmental Protection Agency;

(b) Any chemical substance or mixture as such terms are defined in the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), when subject to the labeling requirements of that act and labeling regulations issued under that act by the Environmental Protection Agency;

(c) Any food, food additive, color additive, drug, cosmetic, or medical or veterinary device or product, including materials intended for use as ingredients in such products (e.g., flavors and fragrances), as such terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) or the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act of 1913 (21 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), and regulations issued under those acts, when they are subject to the labeling requirements under those acts by either the Food and Drug Administration or the Department of Agriculture;

(d) Any distilled spirits (beverage alcohols), wine, or malt beverage intended for nonindustrial use, as such terms are defined in the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (27 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) and regulations issued under that act, when subject to the labeling requirements of that act and labeling regulations issued under that act by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;

(e) Any consumer product or hazardous substance as those terms are defined in the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.) and Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.) respectively, when subject to a consumer product safety standard or labeling requirement of those acts, or regulations issued under those acts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission; and

(f) Agricultural or vegetable seed treated with pesticides and labeled in accordance with the Federal Seed Act (7 U.S.C. 1551 et seq.) and the labeling regulations issued under that act by the Department of Agriculture.

(6) This section does not apply to:

(a) Any hazardous waste as such term is defined by the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), when subject to regulations issued under that act by the Environmental Protection Agency;

(b) Any hazardous substance as such term is defined by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) when the hazardous substance is the focus of remedial or removal action being conducted under CERCLA in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency regulations;

(c) Tobacco or tobacco products;

(d) Wood or wood products, including lumber which will not be processed, where the chemical manufacturer or importer can establish that the only hazard they pose to employees is the potential for flammability or combustibility (wood or wood products which have been treated with a hazardous chemical covered by this standard, and wood which may be subsequently sawed or cut, generating dust, are not exempted);

(e) Articles (as that term is defined in WAC 296-901-14006);

(f) Food or alcoholic beverages which are sold, used, or prepared in a retail establishment (such as a grocery store, restaurant, or drinking place), and foods intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace;

(g) Any drug, as that term is defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), when it is in solid, final form for direct administration to the patient (e.g., tablets or pills); drugs which are packaged by the chemical manufacturer for sale to consumers in a retail establishment (e.g., over-the-counter drugs); and drugs intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace (e.g., first-aid supplies);

(h) Cosmetics which are packaged for sale to consumers in a retail establishment, and cosmetics intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace;

(i) Any consumer product or hazardous substance, as those terms are defined in the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.) and Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq.) respectively, where the employer can show that it is used in the workplace for the purpose intended by the chemical manufacturer or importer of the product, and the use results in a duration and frequency of exposure which is not greater than the range of exposures that could reasonably be experienced by consumers when used for the purpose intended;

(j) Nuisance particulates where the chemical manufacturer or importer can establish that they do not pose any physical or health hazard covered under this section;

(k) Ionizing and nonionizing radiation; and

(l) Biological hazards.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060 and 29 C.F.R. 1910 Subpart Z. WSR 13-06-050, § 296-901-14004, filed 3/5/13, effective 4/15/13.]

RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060 and 29 C.F.R. 1910 Subpart Z. WSR 13-06-050, § 296-901-14004, filed 3/5/13, effective 4/15/13.

Rules

296-901-14016,296-901-14016,296-901-14012,296-901-14014,296-901-14016,296-901-14016,296-901-14006,