New letters of interpretation clarify info in hazcom rule

Washington – OSHA recently published four letters of interpretation regarding its revised Hazard Communication Standard.

The letters, which are the first OSHA has published in 2014, are dated March 4 and addressed to the American Petroleum Institute.

The first letter provides guidance on how to classify health hazards of petroleum streams under the new hazcom rule, which was published in March 2012 and aligns OSHA’s standard with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. The other letters address combustible dust, hazards not otherwise classified and classification criteria for Single Target Organ Toxicity.