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1910.1450 Occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in
laboratories
Becomes effective May 1, 1990.
(a) Scope and application.
(1) This section shall apply to all employers engaged in the laboratory use of
hazardous chemicals as defined below.
(2) Where this section applies, it shall supersede, for laboratories, the requirements
of all other OSHA health standards in 29 CFR part 1910, subpart Z, except as
follows:
(i) For any OSHA health standard, only the requirement to limit employee
exposure to the specific permissible exposure limit shall apply for
laboratories, unless that particular standard states otherwise or unless the
conditions of paragraph (a)(2)(iii) of this section apply.
(ii) Prohibition of eye and skin contact where specified by any OSHA health
standard shall be observed.
(iii) Where the action level (or in the absence of an action level, the
permissible exposure limit) routinely exceeded from an OSHA regulated
substance with exposure monitoring and medical surveillance requirements,
paragraphs (d) and (g)(1)(ii) of this section shall apply.
(3) This section shall not apply to:
(i) Uses of hazardous chemicals which do not meet the definition of
laboratory use, and in such cases, the employer shall comply with the
relevant standard in 29 CFR part 1910, subpart Z, even if such use occurs
in a laboratory.
(ii) Laboratory use of hazardous chemicals which provide no potential for
employee exposure. Examples of such conditions might include:
(A) Procedures using chemically-impregnated test media such as
Dip-and-Read tests where a reagent strip is dipped into the specimen
to be tested and the results are interpreted by comparing the color
reaction to a color chart supplied by the manufacturer of the test
strip; and
(B) Commercially prepared kits such as those used in performing
pregnancy tests in which all of the reagents needed to conduct the
test are contained in the kit.
(b) Definitions -
"Action level" means a concentration designated in 29 CFR part 1910 for a specific
substance, calculated as an eight-hour time-weighted average, which initiates certain
required activities such as exposure monitoring and medical surveillance.
"Assistant Secretary" means the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and
Health, U.S. Department of Labor, or designee.
"Carcinogen" (see "select carcinogen").
"Chemical Hygiene Officer" means an employee who is designated by the employer, and
who is qualified by training or experience, to provide technical guidance in the development
and implementation of the provisions of the Chemical Hygiene Plan. This definition is not
intended to place limitations on the position description or job classification that the
designated individual shall hold within the employer's organizational structure.
"Chemical Hygiene Plan" means a written program developed and implemented by the
employer which sets forth procedures, equipment, personal protective equipment and work
practices that (i) are capable of protecting employees from the health hazards presented by
hazardous chemicals used in that particular workplace and (ii) meets the requirements of
paragraph (e) of this section.
"Combustible liquid" means any liquid having a flashpoint at or above 100xF (37.8xC),
but below 200xF (93.3xC), except any mixture having components with flashpoints of
200xF (93.3xC), or higher, the total volume of which make up 99 percent or more of the
total volume of the mixture.
"Compressed gas" means: (i) A gas or mixture of gases having, in a container, an absolute
pressure exceeding 40 psi at 70xF (21.1xC); or (ii) A gas or mixture of gases having, in a
container, an absolute pressure exceeding 104 psi at 130xF (54.4xC) regardless of the
pressure at 70xF (21.1xC); or (iii) A liquid having a vapor pressure exceeding 40 psi at
100xF (37.8xC) as determined by ASTM D-323-72.
"Designated area" means an area which may be use for work with "select carcinogens,"
reproductive toxins or substances which have a high degree of acute toxicity. A designated
area may be the entire laboratory, an area of a laboratory or a device such as a laboratory
hood.
"Emergency" means any occurrence such as, but not limited to, equipment failure, rupture
of containers or failure of control equipment which results in an uncontrolled release of a
hazardous chemical into the workplace.
"Employee" means an individual employed in a laboratory workplace who may be exposed
to hazardous chemicals in the course of his or her assignments.
"Explosive" means a chemical that causes a sudden, almost instantaneous release of
pressure, gas, and heat when subjected to sudden shock, pressure, or high temperature.
"Flammable" means a chemical that falls into one of the following categories:
(i) "Aerosol, flammable" means an aerosol that, when tested by the method
described in 16 CFR 1500.45, yields a flame projection exceeding 18 inches at full
valve opening, or a flashback (a flame extending back to the valve) at any degree of
valve opening:
(ii) "Gas, flammable" means:
(A) A gas that, at ambient temperature and pressure, forms a flammable
mixture with air at a concentration of 13 percent by volume or less; or
(B) A gas that, at ambient temperature and pressure, forms a range of
flammable mixtures with air wider than 12 percent by volume, regardless of
the lower limit.
(iii) "Liquid, flammable" means any liquid having a flashpoint below 100xF
(37.8xC), except any mixture having components with flashpoints of 100xF
(37.8xC) or higher, the total of which make up 99 percent or more of the total
volume of the mixture.
(iv) "Solid, flammable" means a solid, other than a blasting agent or explosive as
defined in 1910.109(a), that is liable to cause fire through friction, absorption of
moisture, spontaneous chemical change, or retained heat from manufacturing or
processing, or which can be ignited readily and when ignited burns so vigorously
and persistently as to create a serious hazard.
A chemical shall be considered to be a flammable solid if, when tested by the method
described in 16 CFR 1500.44, it ignites and burns with a self-sustained flame at a rate
greater than one-tenth of an inch per second along its major axis.
"Flashpoint" means the minimum temperature at which a liquid gives off a vapor in
sufficient concentration to ignite when tested as follows:
(i) Tagliabue Closed Tester (See American National Standard Method of Test for
Flash Point by Tag Closed Tester, Z11.24-1979 (ASTM D 56-79))- for liquids with
a viscosity of less than 45 Saybolt Universal Seconds (SUS) at 100xF (37.8xC),
that do not contain suspended solids and do not have a tendency to form a surface
film under test; or
(ii) Pensky-Martens Closed Tester (see American National Standard Method of Test
for Flash Point by Pensky-Martens Closed Tester, Z11.7-1979 (ASTM D93-79)-
for liquids with a viscosity equal to or greater than 45 SUS at 100xF(37.8xC), or
that contain suspended solids, or that have a tendency to form a surface film under
test; or
(iii) Setaflash Closed Tester (see American National Standard Method of Test for
Flash Point by Setaflash Closed Tester (ASTM D3278-78)).
Organic peroxides, which undergo autoaccelerating thermal decomposition, are excluded
from any of the flashpoint determination methods specified above.
"Hazardous chemical" means a chemical for which there is statistically significant evidence
based on at least one study conducted in accordance with established scientific principles
that acute or chronic health effects may occur in exposed employees. The term "health
hazard" includes chemicals which are carcinogens, toxic or highly toxic agents,
reproductive toxins, irritants, corrosives, sensitizers, hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins,
neurotoxins, agents which act on the hematopoietic systems, and agents which damage the
lungs, skin, eyes, or mucous membranes.
Appendices A and B of the Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) provide
further guidance in defining the scope of health hazards and determining whether or not a
chemical is to be considered hazardous for purposes of this standard.
"Laboratory" means a facility where the "laboratory use of hazardous chemicals" occurs. It
is a workplace where relatively small quantities of hazardous chemicals are used on a non-
production basis.
"Laboratory scale" means work with substances in which the containers used for reactions,
transfers, and other handling of substances are designed to be easily and safely manipulated
by one person. "Laboratory scale" excludes those workplaces whose function is to produce
commercial quantities of materials.
"Laboratory-type hood" means a device located in a laboratory, enclosed on five sides with
a moveable sash or fixed partial enclosure on the remaining side; constructed and
maintained to draw air from the laboratory and to prevent or minimize the escape of air
contaminants into the laboratory; and allows chemical manipulations to be conducted in the
enclosure without insertion of any portion of the employee's body other than hands and
arms.
Walk-in hoods with adjustable sashes meet the above definition provided that the sashes are
adjusted during use so that the airflow and the exhaust of air contaminants are not
compromised and employees do not work inside the enclosure during the release of
airborne hazardous chemicals.
"Laboratory use of hazardous chemicals" means handling or use of such chemicals in
which all of the following conditions are met:
(i) Chemical manipulations are carried out on a "laboratory scale;"
(ii) Multiple chemical procedures or chemicals are used;
(iii) The procedures involved are not part of a production process, nor in anyway
simulate a production process; and
(iv) "Protective laboratory practices and equipment" are available and in common
use to minimize the potential for employee exposure to hazardous chemicals.
"Medical consultation" means a consultation which takes place between an employee and a
licensed physician for the purpose of determining what medical examinations or
procedures, if any, are appropriate in cases where a significant exposure to a hazardous
chemical may have taken place.
"Organic peroxide" means an organic compound that contains the bivalent -O-O- structure
and which may be considered to be a structural derivative of hydrogen peroxide where one
or both of the hydrogen atoms has ben replaced by an organic radical.
"Oxidizer" means a chemical other than a blasting agent or explosive as defined in
1910.109(a), that initiates or promotes combustion in other materials, thereby causing fire
either of itself or through the release of oxygen or other gases.
"Physical hazard" means a chemical for which there is scientifically valid evidence that it is
a combustible liquid, a compressed gas, explosive, flammable, an organic peroxide, an
oxidizer, pyrophoric, unstable (reactive) or water-reactive.
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