HAZARD COMMUNICATION (HAZCOM)

in Agriculture(437-004-9800)

WHAT?• Informing Employees About

Hazardous Substances They Work with Directly--Or Indirectly

● GOAL Protect Employees

WHY???• An Unlabeled Pesticide Container Spills From A Shelf onto a Handler Wearing

No PPE…• A Seed Worker Drinks Several Beers the Night Before and Works with Thiram

the Next Day…• A Newly-Confirmed Pregnant Worker Is Assigned to Spray an Area with

Atrazine…

WHY?

• Employees Have The (Legal) Right and The Need to Know-->– Chemical Identities– Chemical Hazards– Protective Measures

APPLIES

• Normal Conditions of Use

• Foreseeable Emergency

EXEMPTIONS

• Hazardous Waste• Biological Hazards• Consumer Products• Tobacco or

Tobacco Products

• Wood or Wood Products

EXEMPTIONS• Articles• Food or Alcoholic Beverages• Drugs• Products Deemed Non-hazardous• Radiation

STATS!

• OR-OSHA Citations For Ag

• HAZCOM written program, MSDS, List, Labels

• “Safe Practices”

HOW?

• Develop a Written Program to Be Implemented– Labels– MSDSs– Employee Info and

Training– Non-Routine Procedures

HOW?

• Develop a Written *and* Implemented Program About– Pipe and Piping

Systems– Hazardous

Chemicals List

INFORM!

• Employees Through Labels, MSDSs, and Training By– Chemical Manufacturers– Distributors– Employers

INFORM!

• Of Course, Some Employees Don’t Pay Attention…

LABELS

• Original Container --> Identification, Hazard, Manufacturer’s Address

• Secondary Container --> Identification, Hazard

LABELS

• For Pesticides• The Label is

The Law• Yet…

MSDSs

• For “Material Safety Data Sheets”

• For Hazardous Chemicals• Immediately Accessible• Can Be on Paper or Via

Computer

MSDSs

• Required Info Such As• Name and Hazardous

Ingredients• Physical/Chemical

Characteristics, e.g., pH (Corrosive?)

• Physical Hazards,e.g., Reactivity (Storage?)

MSDSs• Health Hazards: Signs/Symptoms• Entry into Body• Permissible Exposure Limit, etc.• Carcinogen?• Precautions for Safe Handling,

e.g., Spills

MSDSs

• Protective Measures, e.g., PPE

• Emergency/First Aid• Date of MSDS• Name/Address/Phone

Number

TRAINING• Initial• New Hazard

TRAINING

• HAZCOM Rule• Chemicals Where Employees Work• HAZCOM Program• Physical & Health Effects• How Company is Aware of Hazard

TRAINING• Protecting Yourself• How Company is

Protecting Employees

• Emergencies • Reading Labels and

MSDSs

TRAINING

• Effective Training--> When English is (or Is Not Even) a Second Language

TRAINING

• Also In Agricultural HAZCOM• “Safe Practices When Working

Around Hazardous Agricultural Chemicals”

Any Questions??