reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 111e § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111e - Drug Rehabilitation|Section 18 - Record of Treatment; Rights of Patients

Section 18. (a) The administrator of each facility shall keep a record of treatment afforded each patient, which shall be confidential and shall only be made available upon judicial order, whether in connection with pending judicial proceedings or otherwise, where disclosure is authorized by section 408 of the Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act of 1972 and 21 U.S.C. 1175 or, where disclosure is authorized with the informed consent of the patient. Such consent shall be in writing, shall be to the benefit of the patient, and shall be signed by the patient. Such consent shall state the name of the person or organization to whom the disclosure is to be made, the specific type of information to be disclosed, and the purpose or need for such disclosure.  (b) Any patient shall have the right to have a physician retained by him examine him, consult privately with his attorney, receive visitors, and send and receive communications by mail, telephone and telegraph. Such communications shall not be censored or read without the consent of such patient. The foregoing shall not limit the right of the administrator, subject to reasonable rules and regulations of the division, to prescribe reasonable rules governing visiting hours and the use of telephone and telegraph facilities.  (c) No patient may be detained in any facility, other than a penal facility, without his consent.  (d) Insofar as is practicable, a written comprehensive, individualized treatment plan shall be kept by the administrator for each patient.  (e) Each patient shall be entitled to receive adequate and appropriate treatment.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 2 - Administrative Responsibilities; Rules and Regulations; Promulgation

Section 2. The responsibility for administering the provisions of this chapter, and for assuring an appropriate state response to alleged violations thereof, shall be assigned in the following manner:  (a) The commissioner of DPH shall be responsible for the administration of sections four through six, twelve and twenty, which relate to the establishment and amendment of the Massachusetts substance list, the dissemination of information pertaining to toxic or hazardous substances, the granting of certain waivers or alternative conditions to the disclosure requirements contained in this chapter, and trade secrets.  (b) The commissioner of DOL shall be responsible for the administration of sections seven through eleven, and thirteen through fifteen, which define the rights and duties of employees and employers under this chapter.  (c) The commissioner of DEP, on behalf of the commonwealth, and the municipal coordinator of each city or town, on its behalf, shall be responsible for the administration of sections sixteen through nineteen, which relate to requests by state officials, municipal officials, and community residents for actions and information available under this chapter.  The commissioners of the DPH, DOL, and DEP shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out their respective responsibilities under this chapter. In order to avoid the promulgation of conflicting rules and regulations, the commissioners shall take such steps as are necessary to assure that proposed rules and regulations are consistent with the rules and regulations of the other departments with responsibilities under this chapter in conformance with the statutory responsibilities set forth herein. Said rules and regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with chapter thirty A, no later than one hundred and eighty days after the date of enactment of this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 6 - Research Laboratories; Exemption

Section 6. A research laboratory, as defined in section one, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. In order to qualify a work area of a workplace or a workplace as a research laboratory, an employer shall file a sworn statement with the commissioner of DPH which shall include sufficient information pertaining to the workplace or area and the personnel employed therein to enable the commissioner to determine whether the workplace or work area is qualified for the research laboratory exemption, and assurance that the employer has notified the employees of said workplace or work area that this exemption is being claimed.  If the commissioner fails to receive sufficient information to determine whether a workplace or work area qualifies as a research laboratory, or if the commissioner has reason to believe that the workplace or work area does not qualify as a research laboratory, or that the operation of the workplace or work area for which a research laboratory exemption has been claimed poses a threat to the health and safety of employees employed at that workplace or work area, he shall notify the employer in writing and offer the employer an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to chapter thirty A of the General Laws. If the employer fails to substantiate his claim that a workplace or work area is a research laboratory and that said laboratory is being operated in a manner which does not pose a threat to the health and safety of employees employed at that workplace or work area, the commissioner may issue an order revoking the research laboratory exemption in part, or in its entirety for that workplace or work area. The commissioner of DPH may establish by regulation the conditions under which a research laboratory may retain its exemption. An employer may appeal an order of revocation pursuant to the procedures of chapter thirty A.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 8 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Preparation; Revision

Section 8. The manufacturer of any toxic or hazardous substance shall prepare and provide direct purchasers of said toxic or hazardous substances with an MSDS which, to the best of the manufacturer's knowledge, is current, accurate, and complete, based on information then reasonably available to the manufacturer.  Any person other than a manufacturer who sells a mixture of toxic hazardous substance as defined in this chapter shall provide its direct purchasers of the mixture at the time of sale with a copy of the most recent MSDS or equivalent information.  Any person who produces a mixture may, for the purposes of this section, prepare and use a mixture MSDS, subject to the provisions of section ten.  A manufacturer who is responsible for preparing and transmitting an MSDS under the provisions of this section shall revise said MSDS, on a timely basis, as appropriate to the importance of any new information which would affect the contents of the existing MSDS, and in any event within one year of such information becoming available to the manufacturer.  Any employer who receives, compiles, or prepares new information which would serve to update the MSDS for any toxic or hazardous substance present in his workplace, and who has filed a copy of said MSDS with DEP and the municipal coordinator pursuant to section sixteen of this chapter, shall file an updated MSDS containing said new information on a semi-annual basis, and shall concurrently update his own copy of said MSDS.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 9 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Obligation to Provide to Purchaser

Section 9. (a) Any person subject to the provisions of section eight shall be relieved of the obligation to provide a specific purchaser of a toxic or hazardous substance with a MSDS if he has a record of having provided the specific purchaser with the most recent version of the MSDS; or if the substance is labeled pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; the Atomic Energy Act; the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act; or if the article is one sold at retail and is incidentally sold to an employer or the employer's employees, in the same form, approximate amount, concentration, and manner as it is sold to consumers, and, to the seller's knowledge, employee exposure to the article is not significantly greater than the consumer exposure occurring during the principal consumer use of the article.  (b) If an employer is not supplied with an MSDS by a manufacturer or an intermediate seller for a toxic or hazardous substance pursuant to the mandates of section eight, said employer shall within a reasonable amount of time after discovering that an MSDS has not been supplied use diligent efforts to obtain said MSDS from the manufacturer or intermediate sellers. For purposes of this paragraph, ''diligent efforts'' shall mean a prompt inquiry by the employer to the manufacturer or intermediate seller of the toxic or hazardous substance requesting the MSDS with a copy of the request and any written response from the manufacturer or intermediate seller to be filed with the commissioners of DPH and DLI.  Provided, however, that for an independent contractor, or the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions acting as an employer, ''diligent efforts'' shall mean a prompt inquiry to the workplace employer, rather than the manufacturer or intermediate seller, in cases where the relevant workplace is not wholly owned or controlled by the employing independent contractor, the commonwealth, or said political subdivisions.  If after having used diligent efforts an employer still fails to obtain an MSDS, he shall request the commissioner of DLI to obtain said MSDS on his or her behalf. The commissioner of DLI shall, in such cases, obtain any available assistance from the commissioner of DPH or DEP in locating or compiling an up-to-date MSDS for the toxic or hazardous substance.  An employer who has used diligent efforts as defined herein and who has made a documented request to the commissioner of DLI pursuant to this section shall not be found in violation of sections eleven, fourteen or sixteen of this chapter with respect to the MSDS which was not supplied by the manufacturer or intermediate seller as required by section eight of this chapter.  Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to require an employer to conduct studies to develop new information.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 10 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Mixtures

Section 10. A manufacturer or employer may provide the information required by section eight of this chapter on an entire mixture, instead of on each toxic or hazardous substance in it, when all of the following conditions exist:  (a) Hazard test information exists on the mixture itself, or adequate information exists to form a valid judgment of the hazardous properties of the mixture itself and the MSDS indicates that the information presented and the conclusions drawn are from some source other than direct test data on the mixture itself, and that an MSDS on each constituent hazardous substance identified on the MSDS is available upon request.  (b) Provision of information on the mixture will be as effective in protecting employee health as information on the ingredients.  (c) The toxic or hazardous substances in the mixture are identified on the MSDS unless it is either unfeasible to describe all the ingredients in the mixture or the identity of the ingredients is itself a valid trade secret; provided, that in either case the reason why the hazardous substances in the mixture are not identified shall be stated on the MSDS.  A single mixture MSDS may be provided for more than one formulation of a product mixture if the information provided pursuant to section fourteen does not vary for the formulation.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 11 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Employers' Duties; Employee's Right to Examine

Section 11. (a) Every employer who manufactures, processes, uses or stores toxic or hazardous substances in the workplace shall provide a MSDS for each product which is present in said workplace. All MSDS's shall be available at a central location in the workplace.  (b) A completed federal OSHA Form 20 material safety data sheet shall constitute prima facie evidence of compliance with the requirements of this chapter relative to material safety data sheets, provided that said form includes a description of the acute and chronic health risks associated with exposure to the substance described.  (c) Any employee or his designated representative, may request in writing and shall have the right to examine and obtain the MSDS's for the toxic or hazardous substances to which he is, has been or may be exposed. The employer shall provide the MSDS within four working days, subject to the provisions of section nine (b). The employer may adopt reasonable procedures for acting upon such requests to avoid interruption of normal work operations.  (d) If an employee who has requested an MSDS pursuant to this section has not received said MSDS within four working days subject to the provisions of section nine (b), that employee may refuse to work with the substance for which he has requested the MSDS, until said MSDS is provided. Provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall be construed to permit any employee of the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions to refuse to perform essential services.  (e) Every employer who manufactures, processes, uses or stores toxic or hazardous substances in the workplace shall post a notice in a central location in the workplace informing employees of their rights under this section.  (f) For the purposes of this section and section fourteen, an independent contractor, or the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions shall maintain MSDS's for their own workplaces only, as defined in section one; provided, however, that employees of such employers, insofar as they are exposed in the course of their employment to toxic or hazardous substances in other workplaces, shall have the right to examine MSDS's for those substances to which they are exposed from the workplace employer through a written request to their own employer.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 12 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Examination by Employee's Physician; Disclosure of Information

Section 12. An employer or the preparer of an MSDS shall provide said MSDS, including information withheld as a trade secret, immediately on a confidential basis to an employee's treating physician who states in writing that in his professional judgment said employee's medical condition may be the result of occupational exposure to a toxic or hazardous substance present in the employee's workplace; provided, however, that such treating physician shall be required to sign concurrently, or in the case of geographical separation within twenty-four hours a confidentiality agreement, the form of which shall be promulgated by the commissioner of DPH. This agreement shall restrict the use of information to health purposes, prohibit disclosure of the information to anyone other than the treating physician and necessary medical personnel, and may provide for compensation or other legally appropriate relief for any competitive harm which may result from a breach of the agreement.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 14 - Records; Examination; Copying

Section 14. Employers subject to the provisions of this chapter shall be required to maintain as records for a period of thirty years only the MSDS's required by section eleven. Such records shall be made available within a reasonable period of time to each former employee, or his designated representative for examination and copying.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 15 - Instruction on Nature and Effects of Toxic or Hazardous Substances to Employees

Section 15. Employers shall furnish employees with instruction on the nature and effects of those hazardous substances present in the workplace either in written form or in training programs as may be appropriate. Such instruction shall be in nontechnical language but may be generic to the extent appropriate and related to the job. Such instruction shall include the chemical name and any common names, unless withheld from an MSDS as a trade secret, of the toxic or hazardous substance to which an employee may be exposed under normal operating conditions, the location of the substance in the workplace, appropriate first aid treatment and antidotes in the event of improper exposure or overexposure, the proper and safe handling of said substance, the health effects of said substance as described in the relevant MSDS, and the rights and duties of employees as set forth in this chapter. Employers shall provide their current employees with instruction as described herein within ninety days of the effective date of this chapter and annually thereafter, and for employees hired thereafter, within the first month of employment, and annually thereafter.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 16 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Filing Copies

Section 16. Every employer subject to the provisions of this chapter shall file with the regional office of DEP for the region in which the workplace of the employer is located, and upon request with the municipal coordinator for the city or town in which the workplace of the employer is located, a copy of an MSDS for each toxic or hazardous substance listed on the Massachusetts substance list and present in the employer's workplace. The municipal coordinator shall retain said MSDS's for at least five years and the regional office of DEP shall retain said MSDS's for forty years.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 17 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Requests for Copies

Section 17. The commissioner of DEP shall make a copy of an MSDS available to DOL or DPH upon request, and may make a copy of an MSDS available to any other agency of the commonwealth, but only upon written request including a justification by the requesting agency that the information contained in the MSDS is essential to the performance of a duty to protect the public health and safety imposed by statute or regulation. Provided, however, that when such action is taken by the commissioner of DEP upon such request, he shall notify the employer or employers who provided the MSDS. And provided, further, that in the event of an imminent threat to public health or safety, the commissioner of DEP shall waive the requirement for written request and justification.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 19 - Material Safety Data Sheets; Release to Municipal Officials

Section 19. A municipal coordinator who has obtained an MSDS from an employer pursuant to section sixteen may make available to another municipal official for the city or town in which the workplace of the employer is located, a copy of an MSDS, if he determines that an imminent threat to public health or safety exists for which immediate access to information contained in the MSDS is critical to that other municipal official's performance of a duty imposed by statute, regulation, ordinance, or by-law. The municipal coordinator shall so inform the employer of the release of the MSDS to another municipal official.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 20 - Material Safety Data Sheets, Release to Treating Physician; Confidentiality Agreement

Section 20. (a) A preparer shall provide an MSDS without trade secret information immediately on a confidential basis to a community resident's treating physician who states in writing that said resident's medical condition may be the result of exposure to a toxic or hazardous substance present in the said employer's workplace; provided, however that such treating physician shall be required to sign concurrently a confidentiality agreement, the form of which shall be established by the commissioner of DPH. This agreement shall restrict the use of information to health purposes, prohibit disclosure of information to anyone other than the treating physician and necessary medical personnel, and may provide for compensation or other legally appropriate relief for any competitive harm which may result from a breach of the agreement.  (b) A preparer shall provide the information withheld from an MSDS as a trade secret immediately on a confidential basis to a community resident's treating physician who states in writing that a medical emergency as defined in section one exists with respect to the resident; provided, however, that such treating physician shall be required to sign concurrently, or in the case of geographical separation, within twenty-four hours a confidentiality agreement, the form of which shall be established by the commissioner of DPH. This agreement shall restrict the use of information to health purposes, prohibit disclosure of the information to anyone other than the treating physician and necessary medical personnel, and may provide for compensation or other legally appropriate relief for any competitive harm which may result from a breach of this agreement.
MA Gen L ch 111f § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 111f - Hazardous Substances Disclosure by Employers|Section 21 - Disclosure of Information; Public Record; Penalties

Section 21. (a) Any information provided to state or local agencies or instrumentalities by manufacturers and employers pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and any information provided to their public agencies or coordinator pursuant to this chapter shall not be a public record for the purposes of chapter sixty-six of the General Laws.  (b) Any person who has obtained possession of or has access to information pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall not disclose said information to any person not specifically authorized to receive it hereunder. Violation of this provision shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Provided, however, that disclosure by an employee to his or her spouse, or to a fellow employee exposed to the same toxic or hazardous substance as is involved in the disclosure, shall not constitute a violation of this chapter.