GHS Rule's Review Completed
OMB completed the review on Feb. 21 and has sent the rule to OSHA, which means the final rule will be published soon.
More than five years after OSHA published the advance notice of proposed rulemaking to revise its Hazard Communication Standard in accordance with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), the final rule to accomplish it is imminent. A source said it will be published in the Federal Register within two weeks.
The federal Office of Management and Budget's required review of the rule was completed Feb. 21, and the rule was forwarded to OSHA, allowing it to complete the regulatory process. GHS is being adopted around the world following UN adoption of it in 2003.
OMB's review of the rule began Oct. 25, 2011.
OSHA published its NPRM on Sept. 30, 2009, and held public hearings about it in March 2010 in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. The changes being accomplished by the rule are intended to make safety data sheets and chemical labels more consistent and easier for workers to understand, through the use of pictograms and harmonized hazard statements.
A free, one-hour OH&S webinar on this topic titled "GHS Will Happen – Are You Ready?" will take place Feb. 29 beginning at 2 p.m. EST. Tom Jacques and Dr. Karan Singh of the MAXCOM Services Division of Haas Group International Inc. and some MAXCOM customers will explain how GHS is already being used by some employers to increase workers' comprehension and safety.