• Laboratories do not need to have a written HazCom program and list of chemicals.
• Certain actions must be done in work operations where employees only handle chemicals in sealed containers.

Laboratories

In laboratories, employers do not have to have a written HazCom program and list of chemicals. They do have to:

• Make sure that labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals are not removed or defaced,
• Maintain any safety data sheets (SDSs) that are received with incoming shipments of hazardous chemicals,
• Make SDSs readily accessible during each work shift to laboratory employees when they are in their work areas, and
• Provide laboratory employees with information and training on the chemical hazards in the work area, methods to detect exposures, ways to protect themselves, and so on.

Handling chemicals in sealed containers

In work operations like warehouses, where employees only handle chemicals in sealed containers which are not opened under normal conditions of use, employers must:

• Make sure container labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals are not removed or defaced,
• Maintain copies of any safety data sheets that are received with incoming shipments of the sealed containers of hazardous chemicals,
• Obtain an SDS as soon as possible for sealed containers of hazardous chemicals received without a safety data sheet if an employee requests it,
• Make SDSs available during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area(s), and
• Provide employees with information and training in accordance with 1910.1200(h) as needed to protect them in the event of a spill or leak of a hazardous chemical from a sealed container.