Title LAB — California Lab. Code

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Hazardous Substances Information and Training Act.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following: (1) Hazardous substances in the workplace in some forms and concentrations pose potential acute and chronic health hazards to employees who are exposed to these substances. (2) Employers and employees have a right and a need t…

The rights and duties set forth in this chapter apply to all employers who use hazardous substances in this state, to any person who sells a hazardous substance to any employer in this state, and to manufacturers who produce or sell hazardous substances in this state. The provisi…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a manufacturer or employer to conduct studies to develop new information.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article and the provisions of Article 1 shall govern the construction of provisions of this chapter.

“CAS number” means the unique identification number assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service to specific chemical substances.

“Chemical name” is the scientific designation of a substance in accordance with the nomenclature system developed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry or the system developed by the Chemical Abstracts Service.

“Common name” means any designation or identification such as code name, code number, trade name, or brand name used to identify a substance other than by its chemical name.

“Expose” or “exposure” means any situation arising from work operation where an employee may ingest, inhale, absorb through the skin or eyes, or otherwise come into contact with a hazardous substance; provided, that such contact shall not be deemed to constitute exposure if the h…

“Impurity” means a hazardous substance which is unintentionally present with another substance or mixture.

“Manufacturer” means a person who produces, synthesizes, extracts, or otherwise makes a hazardous substance.

“Mixture” means any solution or intimate admixture of two or more substances, at least one of which is present as a hazardous substance, as designated pursuant to Sections 6382 and 6383, which do not react chemically with each other.

“MSDS” means a material safety data sheet prepared pursuant to Section 6390. A label in 8-point or larger type, prepared pursuant to Section 6390, shall constitute an MSDS for the purposes of this chapter.

For the purposes of this chapter, the director, pursuant to Section 6382, shall establish a list of hazardous substances and shall make the list available to manufacturers, employers, and the public. Substances on the list shall be designated by their chemical and common name or …

(a) Prior to the director’s adoption of the list of hazardous substances, the director shall submit the list to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for its approval. Within 90 days of receiving the list from the director, the board, after holding a hearing and cons…

Substances not present on the list of hazardous substances adopted pursuant to Section 6380 shall not be subject to the provisions of this chapter. However, the absence of designation as a hazardous substance in the list adopted pursuant to Section 6380 shall not in any way affec…

The director shall prepare and amend the list of hazardous substances according to the following procedure: (a) Any substance designated in any of the following listings in subdivision (b) shall be presumed by the director to be potentially hazardous and shall be included on the …

(a) For the purposes of this chapter, a hazardous substance is present in any mixture or product if it is present in any of the following concentrations: (1) One percent or more of the mixture or product. (2) Two percent of the mixture or product if the hazardous substance exists…

This chapter does not apply to impurities which develop as intermediate materials during chemical processing but are not present in the final product, and to which employee exposure is unlikely.

The provisions of this chapter do not apply to hazardous substances contained in either of the following: (a) Products intended for personal consumption by employees in the workplace, or consumer products packaged for distribution to, and use by, the general public. (b) Retail fo…

(a) A laboratory in which a hazardous substance is used by or under the direct supervision of a technically qualified individual is not an employer or manufacturer for the purposes of this chapter. (b) This exemption does not excuse a laboratory from any of the following duties: …

The manufacturer of any hazardous substance listed pursuant to the provisions of Section 6380 shall prepare and provide its direct purchasers of the hazardous substance with an MSDS containing the information specified in Section 6391 which, to the best of the manufacturer’s know…

(a) An entity that manufactures or imports a hazardous substance or mixture of substances that constitutes a cosmetic, as defined in Section 109900 of the Health and Safety Code, not excluded by Section 6385, or any substance or mixture of substances that constitutes a disinfecta…

The manufacturer, importer, and distributor of any hazardous substance, and the employer, shall label each container of a hazardous substance in a manner consistent with the federal Hazard Communication Standard (29 C.F.R. Sec. 1910.1200) and as set forth in applicable occupation…

The information which manufacturers shall provide to their purchasers pursuant to the provisions of Section 6390 shall include the following, if pertinent: (a) The chemical name, any common names, and the CAS number of the hazardous substance. (b) The hazards or other risks in th…

Provision of a federal Material Safety Data Sheet or equivalent shall constitute prima facie proof of compliance with Section 6390.

The manufacturer shall be relieved of the obligation to provide a specific purchaser of a hazardous substance with an MSDS pursuant to Section 6390 if the manufacturer has a record of having provided the specific purchaser with the most current version of the MSDS, or if the prod…

The preparer of an MSDS shall provide the department with a copy of the MSDS on each hazardous substance it manufactures. The preparer may transmit the MSDS to the department in either paper or electronic form. In the electronic filing of an MSDS, it is the responsibility of the …

(a) The manufacturer may provide the information required by Section 6390 on an entire product mixture, instead of on each hazardous substance in it, when all of the following conditions exist: (1) Hazard test information exists on the mixture itself, or adequate information exis…

(a) The Director of Industrial Relations shall protect from disclosure any and all trade secrets coming into the director’s possession, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 7924.510 of the Government Code, when requested in writing or by appropriate stamping or marking of doc…

(a) Any person other than a manufacturer who sells a mixture or any hazardous substance shall provide its direct purchasers of the mixture or hazardous substance at the time of sale with a copy of the most recent MSDS or equivalent information prepared and supplied to the person …

The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board shall adopt a standard setting forth an employer’s duties toward its employees under this chapter, on or before July 1, 1981, consistent with the following guidelines: (a) An MSDS shall be available to an employee, collective bar…

An employer that is required to maintain safety data sheets and ensure that those safety data sheets are readily accessible in accordance with this chapter and Section 5194 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations shall, in the same manner and to the same persons, make re…

Upon request, the manufacturer of a hazardous substance or the producer of a mixture who has produced a mixture MSDS pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (b) of Section 6397 shall make available to any employer, whose employees may be exposed to its product in the workplace,…

Compliance with regulations of the Director of Food and Agriculture issued pursuant to Section 12981 of the Food and Agricultural Code shall be deemed compliance with the obligations of an employer toward his or her employees under this chapter.

This article shall become operative 180 days after adoption of the initial list of hazardous substances pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 6380).

The provisions of this chapter regarding manufacturers, employers, and persons subject to the provisions of Section 6397, shall be enforced pursuant to the provisions of this division pertaining to enforcement of standards adopted under Section 142.3.

The provision of information to an employee pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall not in any way affect any other liability of an employer with regard to safeguarding the health and safety of an employee or other persons exposed to a toxic or hazardous substance; nor s…

No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against, any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or has instituted, or caused to be instituted, any proceeding under or related to the provisions of this chapter, or has testified, or is about to testify, …