Hazardous Chemicals in General Industry

Environmental Health and Safety at Virginia Tech has received funding through the OSHA Susan Harwood Training Grant Program to develop and provide training on hazardous chemicals for workers in general industry. OSHA's HazCom standard applies to many persons working in general industry and light manufacturing, including persons working where bulk chemicals are used or where household-type products are used at a frequency greater than a normal consumer. Covered employees would include, for example, maintenance personnel, production workers, or even kitchen staff if they clean their work site.

We offer both a Train-the-Trainer program and awareness-level training. The Awareness-level training is available in both English and Spanish. The OSHA HazCom standard requires that a site-specific plan be developed, that containers be appropriately labeled, Safety Data Sheets be maintained, and that employees be trained.

The Awareness level training we provide covers the following:

• The rights of the employee as outlined by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (this is required as a part of the grant)
• How to recognize signs, labels and pictograms that indicate potentially hazardous chemicals;
• Read and apply the information found on a safety data sheet in the performance of daily tasks;
• How to use best practices when handling and storing chemicals/products; and
• How to use supplied personal protective equipment properly when handling hazardous chemicals.

The training has been reviewed for technical accuracy and approved for use by OSHA. Employees would still need to be informed on the aspects of the site-specific plan that is developed by their employer. Violations of the HazCom standard are the second-most frequently cited issue by federal OSHA. It is our goal to help employers avoid this risk, and also provide employees the tools they need to conduct their work safely. Our staff is willing to travel as necessary to conduct this training provided there are a sufficient number of attendees.