CGA Forms New Expedited Work Process Committee (EWP-2105) to Review OSHA NPRM on Hazard Communication Standard

The Compressed Gas Association (CGA) is announcing the formation of a new Expedited Work Process (EWP) Committee to review a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Comments should be submitted to OSHA by April 19, 2021. The EWP Committee will meet by web conference on March 22 and March 29, 2021, to develop CGA’s comments on the proposed revisions to the HCS.

Background

On February 16, 2021, OSHA issued an NPRM to modify the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to conform to the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) Revision 7 (GHS, Rev. 7), to address issues that arose during the implementation of the 2012 update to the HCS, and provide better alignment with other U.S. agencies and international trading partners, without lowering overall protections of the standard.

The agency has preliminarily determined that the proposed revisions will enhance the effectiveness of the HCS by ensuring employees are appropriately apprised of the chemical hazards to which they may be exposed, thus reducing the incidence of chemical-related occupational illnesses and injuries.

The proposed modifications to the standard include revised criteria for classification of certain health and physical hazards, revised provisions for updating labels, new labeling provisions for small containers, technical amendments related to the contents of safety data sheets (SDSs), and related revisions to definitions of terms used in the standard.

How to Participate

CGA members who wish to join this EWP Committee should email CGA Committee Administrator Jill Thompson as soon as possible (to email Jill, use the form below). If you wish to designate yourself as the voting representative for your company on this committee, please follow these instructions:

Each CGA member is permitted one vote on the EWP committee. Individuals who are voting members of any CGA standing committee may designate themselves as the voting representative for their company on the EWP-2105 Committee by stating their designation as a voting member for the EWP in their email to join the committee.

If you are not a voting member on a CGA standing committee, your company’s official representative to CGA will need to send an email to Jill stating that you will represent your company as a voting member on this EWP.

The work product from this EWP-2105 Committee will not be circulated to the CGA membership for review. It will be balloted directly to Standards Council for approval.

NOTE—If an EWP committee fails to achieve quorum when at least 3 participants have agreed to the initial meeting date, the activity of the EWP committee will be cancelled.

If you need any additional information, use the form below to email your questions to Jill.