NEW SERVICE SPOTLIGHT: GHS Hazard Communication Training from Grainger

Grainger, supplier of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products, is offering support and tools to help customers meet December 1, 2013 training requirements for the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) standard. Grainger’s GHS Hazard Communication Training is an online training course that helps companies train their employees and meet OSHA’s December 1 training requirement deadline.new service spotlight

As has been reported, the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is adopting GHS to provide a single set of criteria for classifying chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, and to bring consistency to the labels and data sheets designed to communicate those hazards. The modified U.S. standard will create global alignment among other OSHA standards and federal U.S. agency regulations. In anticipation of this change, and as an initial step, OSHA requires all U.S. workers who produce or handle hazardous chemicals be trained on the new label elements and format by December 1.

The HCS currently covers over 43 million U.S. workers exposed to hazardous chemicals in over five million workplaces. OSHA expects the modification to prevent hundreds of workplace injuries and illnesses, as well as dozens of fatalities. Once fully implemented, GHS is expected to result in cost savings to U.S. businesses related to productivity improvements by requiring fewer label updates and simpler hazard communication training.

Purchase of the course enables a single individual to take the course one time. A Certificate of Completion may be printed upon successful completion of the course. Options for quantity purchases, along with course assignment and tracking capabilities, are available.

The instruction is intended to help prevent or minimize employee exposures to harmful materials and minimize accidental releases of the material to the work environment. Additionally, special attention is paid to new Safety Data Sheet and Labeling requirements. Primary Regs: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200, Hazard Communication.

This course provides plain language explanations of companies’ responsibilities as well as interactive exercises for helping employees understand revised chemical label elements, hazard pictograms and reformatted safety data sheets (SDS). In addition, the course addresses: New OSHA-Defined Hazards (i.e., Combustible Dust, Pyrophoric Gas, Simple Asphyxiant); Hazards Not Otherwise Classified; New Physical and Health Hazards; and all 16 sections of the new SDS format. Course seat time is approximately one hour.