GHS/HazCom: Preparing for Upcoming Changes

Since OSHA completed its initial alignment of the Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom) with the UN’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) in 2016, the Agency has repeatedly expressed an interest in making further updates to the Standard to align it with a more recent revision of GHS. According to the OSHA’s Fall 2020 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, these updates may finally be around the corner.

The current version of the HazCom Standard, HazCom 2012, is based on GHS Revision 3. The updates are likely to align with the UN’s GHS Revision 7, and may also include elements from Revision 8. Expected updates include changes to how health and physical hazards are classified and changes to certain shipped container label elements, such as precautionary statements. You can find more information on possible changes in our blog post Are You Ready for the GHS Revision 7 Changes?.

There’s still no concrete timeline for when these changes will occur, but OSHA’s notice of proposed rulemaking on the latest Unified Agenda signals that it’s currently a priority and that we’ll likely see additional movement during 2021. This means that now is the ideal time to make sure you’re up-to-speed on current HazCom requirements so that you’ll be prepared when the changes go into effect.

Register for Our Free OSHA GHS/HazCom Webinar 

VelocityEHS’ complimentary live webinar scheduled for February 9, 2021, GHS/HazCom: Maintaining Compliance and Preparing for Future Changes, can help you ensure that you’re in compliance and prepared for future changes. This in-depth webinar will cover:

• GHS changes to the 5 key areas of OSHA’s HazCom Standard
• HazCom requirements for SDSs, workplace container labels and shipped labels
• Ongoing regulatory activity surrounding the HazCom Standard, including what to expect from upcoming alignment with GHS Revision 7
• Best practices for ensuring compliance

Click here to register.

Simplify HazCom Compliance with VelocityEHS

Staying on top of evolving and expanding hazard communication requirements can be overwhelming, but VelocityEHS can help. Our award-winning MSDSonline SDS/Chemical Management solutions make it easy to manage your safety data sheet library and chemical inventory online (with SDS auto updates to help ensure your documents are up-to-date), provide right-to-know access to critical chemical safety information to your entire workforce, create GHS-aligned workplace container labels, and more. Contact us to learn more.