On Aug. 12, the American Coatings Association (ACA) along with eight other trade associations sent a letter to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) petitioning the agency to provide relief from the implementation dates for labels and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) under the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) for chemical product formulators.  Along with ACA, the petition letter was supported by the Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC), American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA); CropLife America, ISSA – The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE), and the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA).

ACA and the supporting trade associations were compelled to petition OSHA for relief due to the lack of updated hazard classifications for raw materials down the supply chain.  When issuing the final rule, OSHA applied the same compliance date of June 1, 2015 for raw materials, intermediate mixtures, and final formulated products.  OSHA assumed that currently available data and expected early compliance would allow for sufficient time for product formulators to receive or locate the necessary HCS compliant SDSs and then process the information to create new labels and SDSs. Unfortunately, this scenario has not played out as OSHA expected. 

Compliance with the single deadline for many manufacturers of formulated products, has been virtually impossible since manufacturers of individual raw materials are not required to provide SDSs that conform to the new standard until the June 1, 2015 deadline for all manufacturers.  Accordingly, manufacturers who are members of the trade associations seeking this relief cannot develop accurate hazard classifications and produce complete labels and SDSs for their formulated products that are compliant with the new HCS classification scheme in time to meet the June 1, 2015 deadline. Industry is concerned about the comprehensiveness and accuracy of hazard communication materials if forced to meet the single deadline.

The petition lays out three potential options for OSHA that will remedy the current compliance issues for affected regulated entities, while still achieving the goals of hazard communication:  1) amend the revised Hazard Communication Standard to allow chemical product formulators until June 1, 2017 to comply with the HCS; 2) approve a two-year temporary variance; or 3) apply a [I]de minimis[/I] enforcement policy for product formulators for two years. The proposed options, if accepted, would give well-intentioned formulators additional time to revise SDSs and labels properly rather than rushing, in order to provide accurate hazard communication information.