[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4037 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4037

    To require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to 
   recognize that electronic forms of providing Material Safety Data 
Sheets provide the same level of access to information as paper copies 
and to improve the presentation of safety and emergency information on 
                           such Data Sheets.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 11, 1998

Ms. Granger (for herself and Mr. Roemer) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to 
   recognize that electronic forms of providing Material Safety Data 
Sheets provide the same level of access to information as paper copies 
and to improve the presentation of safety and emergency information on 
                           such Data Sheets.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. OSHA RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC MSDS'S.

    Section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 655(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
        of this paragraph, the Secretary shall modify the regulations, 
        contained in section 1910.1200(g) of title 29, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, to clarify that an employer complies with the 
        standard contained in such regulations if the employer makes 
        information on each hazardous chemical used in the workplace 
        readily accessible (available for retrieval immediately in the 
        case of an emergency) to employees through electronic access or 
        other alternatives to paper copies. Emergency back-up 
        requirements for such electronic access systems shall not 
        exceed the requirements placed upon traditional, paper storage 
        systems.''.

SEC. 2. STANDARDIZATION FORMAT FOR MSDS'S.

    Section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 655(b)) (as amended by section 1), is further amended by adding 
at the end the following:
            ``(10)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall modify the 
        regulations, contained in section 1910.1200 of title 29, Code 
        of Federal Regulations, to require that information on 
        hazardous chemicals in a Material Safety Data Sheet (referred 
        to as ``MSDS'') shall be presented in a format that includes an 
        emergency overview which warns of those health and physical 
        hazards that require immediate attention in an emergency 
        situation. Such information shall be featured prominently on 
        the first page of the MSDS and it shall describe emergency 
        first-aid, handling, and clean-up instructions and note the 
        material's appearance and physical state.
            ``(B) The emergency overview under subparagraph (A) shall 
        require information on all hazardous chemicals produced, 
        imported, or used to be presented at a language and 
        comprehension level that is consistent with the technical 
        proficiency of the target audience. For sections of the MSDS 
        that are intended for all readers or audiences, the language 
        used should be understandable to the widest audience possible 
        and should be written with a minimum of technical wording.''.

SEC. 3. STUDY.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
section, the Secretary shall initiate a study that assesses and 
measures the comprehensibility of hazard warnings to the average 
industrial worker as they would be presented under section 6(b)(10)(A) 
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Upon completion of 
the study, the Secretary shall prepare a report and make it available 
to chemical manufacturers and importers required to prepare Material 
Safety Data Sheets under regulations published as section 1910.1200(g) 
of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations.
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