Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 437 - DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND BUSINESS SERVICES, OREGON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH DIVISION › Division 4 - AGRICULTURE › Section 437-004-9800 - Hazard Communication Standard for Agricultural Employers

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
NOTES
: The Division 4, Hazard Communication
				Standard for Agricultural Employers (OAR
				437-004-9800), focuses on those parts of the General Industry Hazard Communication Standard
				(Division 2/Z, 1910.1200) that describe the employer's responsibility to
				establish a workplace program and to communicate information to workers about
				the hazards of the chemicals used in their workplace. The Division 4 standard
				does not include the parts of the Division 2, Hazard Communication Standard
				that apply only to producers, distributors, and importers of chemicals because
				these are not typical activities for agricultural employers. As stated in
				437-004-9800(2)  Scope and application, any agricultural
				employer who produces, imports, or distributes chemical products must follow
				the more detailed rules that apply to those general industry activities in
				Division 2/Z, 1910.1200. The requirements of this Division 4, Hazard
				Communication Standard, are intended to be consistent with the Hazard
				Communication Standard for general industry as aligned with the provisions of
				the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of
				Chemicals (GHS.)
(1) Purpose. The
			 purpose of this Division 4 Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is to ensure
			 that agricultural employers provide appropriate information to their employees
			 about the hazardous chemicals to which they can be exposed at their workplaces.
			 The responsibility of chemical manufacturers, importers, and distributors to
			 provide this information is described in Division 2/Z, 1910.1200. The HCS for
			 agricultural employers describes how this information is to be provided:
			 through a comprehensive hazard communication program, including container
			 labels and other forms of warning, safety data sheets and employee training.
(2) Scope and application.
(a) This standard applies to agricultural
			 employers when a hazardous chemical is known to be present in the workplace in
			 a way that employees may be exposed under normal conditions of use or in a
			 foreseeable emergency.
(b) This
			 standard also applies to agricultural employers engaged in crop- or
			 product-related quality control- or quality assurance-type laboratory work.
NOTE
: See Division 4/Z,
				437-004-9860,
				Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories, for rules that apply to other types of
				laboratory activities.
(c)
			 Division 2/Z, 1910.1200, the Hazard Communication Standard for General
			 Industry, including all mandatory appendices, applies to any agricultural
			 employer who is a producer, importer, or distributor of hazardous chemicals, as
			 those activities are defined in this standard.
(d) The following types of hazardous
			 substances are exempted from the requirements of this standard, under the
			 stated conditions or circumstances:
(A) Any
			 hazardous waste defined by the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the
			 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6901  et
			 seq.), when subject to regulations issued under that Act by the Environmental
			 Protection Agency;
(B) Any
			 hazardous substance as such term is defined by the Comprehensive Environmental
			 Response, Compensation and Liability ACT (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. 9601  et seq.),
			 when the hazardous substance is the focus of remedial or removal action being
			 conducted under CERCLA (such as a "Superfund" site) in accordance with
			 Environmental Protection Agency regulations;
(C) Tobacco or tobacco products;
(D) Wood or wood products, including lumber
			 if it will not be processed, where the manufacturer or importer has established
			 that the only hazard posed to employees is the potential for combustibility;
NOTE:
Wood and wood products that are treated with
				a hazardous chemical covered by this standard (such as chemically
				pressure-treated wood); and wood that will later be sawed, cut or sanded,
				generating dust, is covered by this standard.
(E) Articles as defined in OAR
			 437-004-9800(11);
(F) Food or alcoholic beverages
			 sold, used, or prepared in a retail establishment (such as a grocery store,
			 restaurant, or drinking place), and foods intended for personal consumption by
			 employees while at work;
(G) Any
			 drug, defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301  et
			 seq.), when it is in solid, final form for direct administration to the patient
			 (e.g., tablets or pills); drugs packaged by the chemical manufacturer for sale
			 to consumers in a retail establishment (e.g., over-the-counter drugs); and
			 drugs intended for personal consumption by employees while at work (e.g., first
			 aid supplies);
(H) Cosmetics which
			 are packaged for sale to consumers or intended for personal consumption by
			 employees while in the workplace;
(I) Any consumer product or hazardous
			 substance, defined in the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051  et seq.)
			 and Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 U.S.C. 1261  et seq.) respectively,
			 where the employer can show that it is used in the workplace for the purpose
			 intended by the chemical manufacturer or importer of the product, and the use
			 results in a duration and frequency of exposure not more than the range of
			 exposures that could reasonably be experienced by consumers;
(J) Nuisance particulates where the chemical
			 manufacturer or importer has established that they do not pose any physical or
			 health hazard covered under this standard;
NOTE
: Nuisance particulate is synonymous with
				"particulate not otherwise regulated" (PNOR.) PNOR includes all inert or
				nuisance dusts, whether mineral, inorganic, or organic, that are not
				specifically listed in Division 4/Z, OAR
				437-004-9000,
				Oregon Rules for Air Contaminants.
(K) Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation; and,
(L) Biological hazards.
NOTES
: In addition to these exempted hazardous
				substances, the general industry Hazard Communication Standard [at
				1910.1200(b)(5)] lists additional types of hazardous chemicals whose
				manufacturers are not covered by the Hazard Communication labeling
				requirements, because the products are already regulated by other labeling
				regulations. (For example, labeling of consumer products is regulated by the
				Consumer Product Safety Commission; and labeling of pesticide products is
				regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.) Nonetheless, employers must
				ensure that hazardous chemicals are properly identified in their workplaces, as
				described in
				437-004-9800(5).