WAC 296-800-17025   Label containers holding hazardous chemicals.  


Exemptions: • The following is a summary of items that are exempt from this rule:
– Pesticides, when labeled as required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
– Food, food additives, color additives, drugs, cosmetics, or medical/veterinary devices or products.
– Alcoholic beverages not intended for industrial use.
– Consumer products labeled as required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
– Agriculture or vegetable seeds treated and labeled as required by the Federal Seed Act.
For complete information about each of these, see WAC 296-800-17055.
Note: You are not required to label portable containers into which hazardous chemicals are transferred from labeled containers, if the chemical is used and controlled by the same employee who performed the transfer within the same shift.

     You must:

     • Make sure that each container of hazardous chemicals in the workplace is labeled, tagged, or marked with the following information:

     – The identity of the hazardous chemical(s) using either the chemical or common name.

     – Appropriate hazard warnings which give general information about the relevant health and physical hazards of the chemicals. This includes health effects information, such as information about organs most likely to be affected by the chemicals.

     – For individual stationary process containers, you may use alternate labeling methods such as:

     ♦ Signs

     ♦ Placards

     ♦ Process sheets

     ♦ Batch tickets

     ♦ Operating procedures or

     ♦ Other such written materials,

as long as the alternate method identifies the containers and conveys the required label information.


Note: • You do not need to put on new labels if existing labels already provide the required information.
• You are not required to list each component in a hazardous mixture on the label. If a mixture is referred to on an MSDS by a product name, then the product name should be used as the identifier.
• You may use words, pictures, symbols, or any combination of these, to communicate the hazards of the chemical.


Sample Container Labels
 
• Be sure to train your employees so they can demonstrate a knowledge of the labeling system you use.
• Some alternative labeling systems do no communicate target organ information, so the employee will have to rely on training provided by the employer to obtain this information.

     You must:

     • Not remove or deface existing labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals unless the container is immediately labeled with the required information.



 
This is an example of a labeled container. You may use a laminated or coated label, affixed to the container with a wire, to avoid deterioration of labels due to a solvent, such as acetone.

     You must:

     • Make sure that labels or other forms of warning are legible, in English, and prominently displayed on the container, or readily available in the work area throughout each work shift.


Note: Employers with non-English speaking employees may use other languages in the warning information in addition to the English language.

     • Make sure if the hazardous chemical is regulated by WISHA or OSHA in a substance-specific health rule, that the labels or other warnings are used according to those rules.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, [49.17].040, and[49.17].050 . 02-16-047, § 296-800-17025, filed 8/1/02, effective 10/1/02; 01-23-060, § 296-800-17025, filed 11/20/01, effective 12/1/01; 01-11-038, § 296-800-17025, filed 5/9/01, effective 9/1/01.]