>>back

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAM - OSHA LABORATORY SAFETY

Structure and Organization

The OSHA Laboratory Safety information in this program is presented in a definite order, so that employees wilt see the relationships between the various groups of information and can retain them more easily. The sections included in the OSHA Laboratory Safety program are:

• The OSHA Laboratory Standard.

• What is a "Hazardous" Chemical?

• Health Hazards.

• Physical Hazards.

• Common Types of Hazardous Chemicals.

• Container Labels.

• Material Safety Data Sheets.

• Personal Protective Equipment.

• Safe Work Practices.

• Storage Considerations.

• First Aid.

• Clean-up and Disposal.

Each section of the OSHA Laboratory Safety program covers important information in one topic area, providing employees with general knowledge about working safely with potentially hazardous chemicals.

Background

Early in 1984, OSHA put in place the Federal Hazard Communication Standard, that has come to be known as the "Right-To-Know" law. Ultimately, the law was held to apply to all facilities, including laboratories.

However, a number of people have felt that the operation of many laboratories were "different" enough to make many provisions of the Hazard Communication Standard inappropriate for their environments. Laboratory Safety differences most often pointed to include the educational level of the average employee, the small quantities of chemicals used in many laboratories, and the "research" orientation of much laboratory work.

After a great deal of review and discussion, OSHA finally concluded that indeed many types of laboratories should have their own Laboratory Safety standard regarding working with hazardous chemicals. As a result, early in 1990, the OSHA Laboratory Safety Standard was imposed. This Standard applies to many, but not all laboratories. Those laboratories not covered by this Standard remain covered by the Hazard Communication Standard.

There are three major requirements in the OSHA Laboratory Standard:

• Locating, inventorying and tracking potentially hazardous chemicals.

• Identifying, labeling and providing information about potentially hazardous chemicals.

• Training/educating employees.

As part of the training requirement, all employees who may be exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals must go through detailed " initial training ", as well as periodic " retraining " (on at least an annual basis).

Objectives

This program has been specifically designed to "reawaken" employees' awareness of how to work safely with potentially hazardous chemicals. It assumes that employees will remember basic information given to them in their initial "Laboratory Standard" training, and acts as a "refresher/reminder" about selected important information.

Upon completion of the OSHA Laboratory Safety program, employees should have an increased awareness about:

• The Laboratory Standard.

• The Nature of Hazardous Chemicals.

• Common Types of Hazardous Chemicals.

• Container Labels.

• Material Safety Data Sheets.

• Health Hazards.

• Physical Hazards.

• Safe Work Practices.

• Personal Protective Equipment.

• Storage Considerations.

• First Aid.

• Clean-up and Disposal.

Reviewing the Program

With the OSHA Laboratory Safety program, as with any educational program, the "presenter" should go through it at least once to become familiar with the content and make sure the program is consistent with facility policy and directives. An "outline" of the points in the OSHA Laboratory Safety program is included in this Presenter's Guide to help with this task and for general reference.

As part of this review process, you should determine how you, as the presenter, will conduct your session. The use of materials such as handouts, charts, etc., that may be available to you needs to be well thought out and integrated into the overall OSHA Laboratory Safety program presentation.

Click here for OSHA Laboratory Safety videos.