1.3 The written program, element by element
Ask an inspector for your hazard communication program and they are asking for one document, plus the list attached to it, plus the sheets it points at. Paragraph (e) is short — five numbered sub-paragraphs — and it is the part of the standard most often failed, because a program is easy to download and hard to keep true. This chapter takes it apart element by element.
1 The requirement, in one sentence
Paragraph (e)(1): employers shall develop, implement, and maintain at each workplace a written hazard communication program which at least describes how the criteria specified in paragraphs (f), (g) and (h) — labels and other forms of warning, safety data sheets, and employee information and training — will be met, and which also includes the two items at (e)(1)(i) and (ii).
Three verbs, and each one is a separate failure mode. Develop is writing it. Implement is doing what it says. Maintain is keeping it true as products and people change. A binder that describes a labeling system nobody uses fails on the second verb even though it exists.
Note the words at each workplace. A corporate program written at head office is a starting point, not a compliance document, unless it actually describes how the criteria are met at the site where the crew works. Paragraph (e)(5) softens this for mobile work: where employees must travel between workplaces during a workshift — work carried out at more than one geographical location — the written program may be kept at the primary workplace facility.
2 Element one: how the (f), (g) and (h) criteria will be met
This is where most programs go thin. The standard asks for a description of how, and a sentence that restates the rule is not a description of how.
Compare two lines for the same site. “All secondary containers will be labeled in accordance with 1910.1200(f)(6)” tells a reader nothing they could not have got from the CFR. “Secondary containers are labeled with a printed tag from the trailer printer carrying the product identifier and the pictograms from the supplier label; blank tags and a marker are kept in the paint locker; the foreman checks tags at the Monday walk” describes a method, names a place, and names a person.
The same test applies to the other two criteria. For safety data sheets, say where they live, in what form, how someone reaches them on the night shift, and what happens when the tablet has no signal. For training, say who delivers it, when, in what language, and how a new product triggers it.
3 Element two: the list of hazardous chemicals
Paragraph (e)(1)(i) requires a list of the hazardous chemicals known to be present using a product identifier that is referenced on the appropriate safety data sheet, and adds in parentheses that the list may be compiled for the workplace as a whole or for individual work areas.
Two design decisions are made for you by that sentence. First, the identifier is not free text: it has to be the one on the sheet, so that anyone holding the list can find the matching document. Trade names on a can sometimes differ from the identifier in section 1 of the sheet, and the sheet wins. Second, the granularity is yours: one site-wide list, or a list per work area. On a large plant, per-area lists are usually more accurate, because the person maintaining each one can see the shelf.
The list is a living document, and it is the single most common defect. A product arrives, gets used, and never reaches the list; a product is discontinued and stays on it for three years. Neither state is compliant, and both are avoidable by tying the list to receiving rather than to an annual review.
| Column | Why it earns its place | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Product identifier as on the SDS | The only way to find the right sheet | Yes — (e)(1)(i) |
| Manufacturer or supplier | Who to call for a missing or updated sheet | Practice |
| Work area | Lets the list be maintained by the people who can see the shelf | Practice; (e)(1)(i) allows per-area lists |
| Main hazards | Lets a foreman triage without opening the binder | Practice |
| SDS on file, and date received | Turns the list into a gap report | Practice |
4 Element three: non-routine tasks and unlabeled pipes
Paragraph (e)(1)(ii) requires the methods the employer will use to inform employees of the hazards of non-routine tasks — the standard's own example is the cleaning of reactor vessels — and the hazards associated with chemicals contained in unlabeled pipes in their work areas.
This is the element most written programs simply do not have, and it is the one that catches the two situations where information is least available. A non-routine task is by definition not covered by the daily briefing; unlabeled pipes are, by the definition of “container” in paragraph (c), outside the labeling scheme entirely.
A method for non-routine tasks usually looks like a trigger and a document: any task not on the standard work list requires a written task authorization and a pre-task briefing covering the chemicals involved, the controls and the emergency steps. A method for pipes usually looks like a source of truth and a rule: the piping schedule is posted at the panel, and no line is opened until the operator confirms contents against it. Both are short. Neither writes itself.
5 Multi-employer workplaces
Paragraph (e)(2) applies where you produce, use or store hazardous chemicals in such a way that the employees of other employers may be exposed — and the standard gives, as its own example, employees of a construction contractor working on-site. On any active jobsite, this is the normal case, not the exception.
Three methods must then be in the program, at (e)(2)(i) through (iii): how you will provide the other employers on-site access to safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical their employees may be exposed to while working; how you will inform them of precautionary measures needed to protect employees during normal operating conditions and in foreseeable emergencies; and how you will inform them of the labeling system used in the workplace.
The third one is the one people skip and the one that bites. If your site labels secondary containers with a colored tag scheme, a visiting mechanical crew has no idea what a yellow tag means until you tell them. Writing down how you tell them is the whole requirement.
6 Existing programs, and who can demand a copy
Paragraph (e)(3) is permission, not a loophole: the employer may rely on an existing hazard communication program to comply with these requirements, provided that it meets the criteria established in paragraph (e). A corporate template, a trade association model, a program inherited with an acquisition — all usable, all subject to the same test.
Paragraph (e)(4) closes the loop: the employer shall make the written hazard communication program available, upon request, to employees, their designated representatives, the Assistant Secretary and the Director, in accordance with the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1020(e). A designated representative is defined in paragraph (c) as any individual or organization to whom an employee gives written authorization to exercise the employee's rights under the section — and a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent is treated as a designated representative without regard to written authorization.
Practically: the program is not an internal document. Write it knowing that an employee, a union representative and an OSHA compliance officer can all ask for it and are all entitled to it.
- Develop, implement and maintain a written program at each workplace — three separate duties.
- Describing how the (f), (g) and (h) criteria are met means naming methods, places and people, not restating the rule.
- The chemical list uses the product identifier from the safety data sheet, and may be per site or per work area.
- Non-routine tasks and unlabeled pipes are a required element and the most commonly missing one.
- On multi-employer sites the program must describe three methods: SDS access, precautionary measures, and the labeling system.
- An existing program may be relied on; the finished program must be available on request to employees, their designated representatives and OSHA.
Free educational content — not OSHA-authorized training, no certificate or card issued. Follow your employer's program and the standards cited.