Hazard Inventory

As part of the written hazard communication program, employers must prepare a list of all hazardous chemicals in the workplace. This is a requirement under the Standard. The list serves as an inventory of every chemical for which an SDS must be maintained and helps employers gauge the scope of their written program to ensure compliance.

The best way to prepare a comprehensive list is to survey the workplace. Employers may also use purchasing records to establish what chemicals have entered the facility. But they must review and determine that the chemicals listed on the purchasing records are in fact still present at the facility.

As chemicals have a way of being unofficially introduced into workplace settings, usually through vendor samples, there is no substitute for actually walking through a facility, observing carefully, and taking notes to compile an exhaustive inventory of all chemicals present at the workplace. Be sure to include the locations of these chemicals and an indication of the hazards found on the labels.

Keep in mind that if a chemical is inherently non-hazardous (for example, water and other mild solutions of innocuous substances), it is not covered under the Standard and should not be included in the inventory.

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