Background

For many years, the laws that existed to protect people who may potentially be exposed to chemicals differed widely by country. These exposures can occur when chemicals are produced, transported, used, and disposed of; and the laws varied in the scope of chemicals covered, definitions of hazards, specificity of requirements, and use of symbols and pictograms. The inconsistencies forced manufacturers to create different versions of labels and SDSs for their products to suit the laws and regulations of different countries. This made hazard communication challenging.

Recognizing the critical problem that inconsistent classification posed for worker health, the United States entered into negotiations with a number of international organizations, countries, and stakeholder representatives to develop the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS, which is designed to be a single coordinated system to address the classification of chemicals, labels, and SDSs, was adopted by the United Nations in 2002 to replace the various standards used in different countries with consistent criteria for classification and labeling on a global level.

In 2006, OSHA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to solicit information about how the requirements of the GHS would affect the provisions of the Standard if those requirements were integrated into the Standard. Acting on majority feedback that supported OSHA aligning the provisions of the Standard with the global approach, OSHA published the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on September 30, 2009, with the intent of modifying the Standard to align with the provisions of the GHS.

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