Labels and the safety data sheet
Hazard communication 5 min 29 CFR 1926.59
Why it matters
Every chemical container needs a label, including one you fill and leave on the job. The safety data sheet tells you the hazards, the gloves, and what to do if it gets on skin or in eyes. Do not open a product you do not know, and do not use a bottle with no label.
The talk
Every chemical container on this job has a label. The label shows the hazard in words and in symbols. Read the words. Look at the symbols. If you cannot read them, ask before you open the container. If you pour some into another container and that container stays on the job, it gets a label too. A drink bottle, a jar, or a sprayer with no name is not a small shortcut. The next person does not know if it is water, solvent, or something that burns skin. Write the name before you set it down, and make the words dark enough to read after a dusty shift.
The safety data sheet, the SDS, says the hazards. It says which gloves to wear. It says what to do if the product gets on skin or in eyes. Read it before you open a product you do not know. The sheet is not only for the foreman. If you are the one pouring, you are the one who needs the gloves and the first-aid steps. If the SDS is missing, tell the foreman. Do not guess from the smell. Do not go by the color of the liquid. A clear liquid can still be the one that the sheet says needs special gloves.
Do not use a chemical from a bottle with no label. Do not sniff the cap to figure it out. Set it aside, tell the foreman, and leave it alone until someone who has the sheet can name it. If a label is torn, stained, or painted over, treat that container as unlabeled. Get a new label on it before the crew keeps using it. The rule for labels and safety data sheets on this job is 1926.59. The label and the sheet have to be there before the product is opened, not after someone is already hurting.
Key points
- Every chemical container has a label.
- A container you fill and leave on the job gets a label too.
- The label shows the hazard in words and symbols.
- The SDS says the hazards, the gloves, and what to do for skin or eyes.
- Read the SDS before you open a product you do not know.
- Do not use a chemical from a bottle with no label.
- Tell the foreman if the SDS is missing.
Do this
- Read the words and the symbols on the label before you open it.
- Label any container you pour into if it stays on the job.
- Read the SDS for gloves and for skin or eye contact.
- Tell the foreman when the SDS is not on the job.
- Set an unlabeled container aside until it is identified.
Do not do this
- Do not pour into a drink bottle and leave it unlabeled.
- Do not use a chemical from a bottle with no label.
- Do not sniff a cap to guess what is inside.
- Do not go by color or smell instead of the SDS.
- Do not keep using a container when the label is torn or painted over.
Talk about it
- Which products are we opening today, and who has read the SDS?
- Where are the secondary bottles, and which ones are missing a label?
- Who do you tell if the SDS for a product is not on the job?
Listens with this phone's voice. Nothing is sent out.
Send to the crew
The crew link opens the talk so each person can read it and sign on their own phone.
Scan at the jobsite. It opens the crew sign-off.