Safety Affairs

University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Office of Safety Affairs

CHEMICAL RIGHT-TO-KNOW

 

 

Posting of Notices

 

It shall be the responsibility of the Safety Officer to see that appropriate notices are posted on campus bulletin boards and other appropriate locations informing employees of their rights concerning hazardous chemicals.

 

Material Safety Data Sheet

 

Chemical manufacturers and distributors are required by law to provide UTHSC with access to an appropriate Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) with their initial shipment of a hazardous chemical or with successive shipments whenever the MSDS is updated.

 

1. Deans and Vice Chancellors shall be responsible for maintaining a current MSDS for

each hazardous chemical in their areas of responsibility.  It must be accessible to each

employee who may come in contact with a hazardous chemical.  This MSDS must be

maintained in the general area in which the hazardous chemical is being used.  The MSDS may be in electronic or paper format.

 

2 .The following procedures will be implemented:

 

a. The following shall apply for all hazardous chemicals purchased from General Stores:

 

(1) The Manager of General Stores shall assure that all vendors    delivering hazardous chemicals to General Stores provide an MSDS for each hazardous chemical received.

 

(2) General Stores shall provide a copy of the appropriate MSDS to a department or division whenever hazardous chemicals are delivered to them.

 

(3) General Stores shall provide the Safety Officer with a quarterly list of the hazardous chemicals are delivered as outlined above.

 

b. The following shall apply for all hazardous chemicals purchased directly from vendors:

 

(1) Deans and Vice Chancellors or their designees shall take steps to assure that all vendors delivering directly to their departments shall provide an MSDS for each hazardous chemical received.  This may occur whenever chemicals are ordered directly from the manufacturer or supplier as a result of a blanket contract, a specific purchase order, or by the use of petty cash for orders under $50.00.

 

(2) Deans and Vice Chancellors or their designees shall take steps to assure that the Safety Officer is provided with a current listing of hazardous chemical inventory.

 

c. Each MSDS shall be retained and made readily available for employees working in any area that contains hazardous chemicals.

 

3. If an MSDS for a hazardous chemical is not readily available at the request of an employee, the supervisor involved should immediately contact the Safety Officer, who shall make every effort to obtain the MSDS from the manufacturer as outlined in Section 8(d) of the State of Tennessee "Hazardous Chemical Right to Know Law."  If this procedure is exhausted and the MSDS is not made available, the employee may refuse to work with the hazardous chemical without penalty.

 

Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals

 

A completed inventory of all hazardous chemicals, either stored or in use at UTHSC, must be compiled.

 

1.  Hazardous chemicals are defined as any element, chemical compound or mixture of elements and/or compounds which in their natural state are a physical or health hazard.*

 

2.  It shall be the responsibility of the Deans and Vice Chancellors (or their designee) to see that all hazardous chemicals, either stored or in use, are inventoried in their areas of responsibility.

 

               a. The identification of each hazardous chemical must include:

 

(1) Chemical Name.  The scientific designation of a chemical in accordance with the nomenclature system developed by the International Union of Pure and Allied Chemistry (IUPAC), or the Chemical Abstracts Services (CAS) rules of nomenclature, or a name which will clearly identify the chemical for the purpose of conducting a hazard evaluation.

 

                              (2) Trade name, if applicable.

 

                              (3)Manufacturer of the chemical.

(4)Volume of the chemical, either stored or in use, (i.e. size or weight, such as 3 gallons or 7 lbs.)

 

b. The building and room number where each hazardous chemical is stored and/or used.

 

c. The name and phone number of the principal investigator or supervisor who is directly responsible for the storage or use of the hazardous chemical.

 

3. Deans or Vice Chancellors shall supply the Safety Officer with the complete updated inventory of hazardous chemicals in their areas of responsibility no later than December 1 of each year.

 

4. Deans or Vice Chancellors shall take steps to assure that a workplace list of hazardous chemicals is maintained in their area of responsibility.

 

 

Labeling of Containers with Hazardous Chemicals

 

1. Each Dean or Vice Chancellor (or their designee) shall take steps to assure that the containers of all hazardous chemicals shall be appropriately labeled.

 

2. The Safety Officer, upon receipt of the inventory from each Dean and Vice Chancellor, shall compile and maintain a list of hazardous chemicals for the entire campus.  This list must be sent annually to the Commissioner of Labor, State of Tennessee, for all hazardous chemicals in any one building stored in excess of fifty-five gallons or in excess of 500 pounds.

 

3. Upon completion of the initial inventory, each Dean or Vice Chancellor is responsible for assuring that a continuing list of hazardous chemicals is kept for all areas under his jurisdiction.

 

4. Employees shall not be required to work with hazardous chemicals from an unlabeled container except for a portable container intended for the immediate use of an employee.

 

Education and Training

 

An education and training program for all employees shall be implemented as follows:

 

1. Deans and Vice Chancellors shall be responsible for assuring that principal investigators or appropriate supervisors continue to provide an education and training program for all employees in their college or unit who come in contact with hazardous chemicals or work in areas where there are hazardous chemicals.

 

2. The goals of UTHSC relate to teaching, research, and public service.  Its principal investigators are constantly striving to add to the body of knowledge in the health sciences through its research laboratories.  It has been the University's practice for principal investigators and appropriate supervisors to train their employees in the use

and hazards of any chemicals that may be in use in the University's laboratories.  This education and training program shall continue and shall in addition include the following:

 

               a. Information on interpreting labels and MSDS¹s.

 

               b. Location and availability of the workplace chemical list and the MSDS¹s.

 

3. As part of their on-the-job training, new employees must be provided complete information regarding the hazardous chemicals in their work area.

 

4. Additional instruction must be given to all employees in a particular work area whenever a new hazard is introduced or whenever new or significant information is received concerning a hazardous chemical.

 

5. An annual refresher course must be given to all appropriate employees.

 

6. Any non-routine work that is considered to be potentially hazardous should be reviewed by the appropriate supervisor to see if additional training is necessary.

 

7. Records must be kept of formal training sessions or of those employees who have received on-the-job training.  These records must be submitted to the Safety Officer by July 1 of each year.

 

Outside Contractors

 

When outside contractors are working in areas that place them in close proximity to UTHSC employees, appropriate communication between the contractor and UTHSC officials must be maintained.  Any potential safety hazards should be discussed and any employees involved shall be made aware of the hazards.

 

The contracting department will be responsible for notifying contractors of their need to comply with this procedure.  Likewise, outside contractors who use or bring hazardous chemicals onto the UTHSC campus must notify and gain approval from the Safety Office before bringing them to the job site.         

 

Firefighting Requirements

 

1. The Safety Officer shall provide appropriate officers of the Memphis Fire Department the following information:

 

a. The telephone numbers of appropriate officials at UTHSC who have knowledgeable information of hazardous chemicals that are stored in excess of 55 gallons or 500 pounds.

 

               b. A copy of the workplace list of all hazardous chemicals in use at UTHSC, if

               desired by the Fire Department.

 

2. The Safety Officer shall place one sign in accordance with the NFPA704M series on the outside of any building which contains class A explosive, class B explosive, poison gas poison A), water-reactive flammable solid (flammable solid W), or radioactive material as listed in table 1 of Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations at 49 CFR, part172, and further defined in federal DOT regulations at 49 CFR, Part 173, or any other hazardous chemical stored in excess of 55 gallons or 500 pounds at any one site.

 

3.Procedures for emergency response are outlined in the UT Memphis published Emergency Response Manual, January 1, 1992, and the UT Memphis Waste Minimization and Spill Response Plan are incorporated by reference.

 

*Note -- See Hazardous Materials Table, Section 172.101 in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Revised 7/07