Chapter 6 - Laboratory standard

Abstract

The Laboratory standard includes many requirements identical to the Hazard Communication Standard, including requirements related to the determination of chemical hazards, the use of material safety data sheet (MSDS), the training of personnel, and the rights of employees to information regarding workplace hazards and means for protecting themselves from exposure. The overall responsibility for compliance with the Laboratory Standard is assigned to an in-house chemical hygiene officer (CHO). In small companies that must comply with both the Laboratory Standard and the Hazard Communication Standard, a safety officer often fills the roles of both the CHO and right-to-know coordinator (RTKC); in large companies, these roles are frequently undertaken by different employees. Written standard operating procedures (SOPs) have long been procedural fixtures in the typical laboratory as the basic means of ensuring scientific compliance with standardized analytical techniques, procedures, and protocols. The Laboratory Standard expands the meaning of SOPs to include health and safety procedures. Under this standard, health-and safety-oriented SOPs are of two types—general SOPs, which focus on generic issues that pertain to all laboratories, and specific SOPs, which focus on the particular kinds of chemical hazards present in a particular laboratory.