Roofing contractors were cited by the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) for violating OSHA's current hazard
communication program regulation in about 200 instances during
fiscal year 2010-11. It was the 10th most common citation in the
roofing industry in states under federal OSHA jurisdiction.
Toward the end of 2013, select elements of a new OSHA hazard
communication standard will take effect, and you must begin
planning for the training requirements that you will need to
implement by Dec. 1, 2013. The new standard is based on
internationally agreed upon rules OSHA anticipates will provide for
the broadest recognition of identified hazards while reducing costs
of disseminating chemical hazard information.
OSHA first published a hazard communication standard in 1983.
Initially, the rule only covered the manufacturing industry; full
implementation and enforcement of the standard in all OSHA industry
sectors, including construction, has been in place since 1989. The
hazard communication standard requires employers with workers
exposed to hazardous chemicals to develop, implement and maintain a
written hazard communication program at each workplace. At a
minimum, a written program must address hazardous chemicals
container labeling, material safety data sheets (MSDSs) maintenance
and worker training...
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