OSHA Laboratory Standards vs. Other OSHA Standards

According to OSHA Laboratory Safety Guidance, over 500,000 workers are employed in laboratories in the United States. The laboratory can be a hazardous environment to work in, especially when employees are exposed to numerous potential hazards including biological, physical, and radioactive hazards. Muscular distresses are also considered hazardous. Laboratory safety has been regulated by OSHA over the years by publishing rules and guidelines which are regulated at the local, state, and federal regulation. These documents are intended for supervisors, principal investigators, and managers who are responsible for maintaining safe, healthy environments for all employees to work in.

Under Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the General Duty Clause, requires that employers "shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment in which are free from recognized hazards that are causing death or serious physical harm to his employees." This indicates that even if the OSHA standard has not been promulgated that deals with a specific hazard or hazardous operations may be enforceable under the section 5 (a)(1) of the OSH Act. The principle OSHA standards cover the major hazards that workers are most likely to encounter on a daily basis. Employers must be fully award of the OSHA standards and must implement all aspects of standards that apply to specific work conditions in their facilities. Occupational health and safety professionals use a framework called the "hierarchy of controls" to select ways of dealing with workplace hazards. This strategy prioritizes intervention strategies based on the premise that the best way to control a hazard is to systematically remove it from the workplace, rather than relying on workers to reduce their exposure. The hierarchy of controls consists of: engineering controls, administrative controls, work practices, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Most employers use a combination of control methods. They must evaluate their own individual workplace to develop a plan for protecting their workers that may combine both immediate actions as well as longer term solutions.

The purpose of the Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) is to provide guidelines for prudent practices and procedures for the use of chemicals in the laboratory. The laboratory standards requires that the CHP sets forth procedures, equipment, PPE, and work practices capable of protecting workers from the health hazards presented by chemicals used in the laboratory. Each CHP must include Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Criteria for Exposure Control Measures, Adequacy and Proper Functioning of Fume Hoods, Information and Training, Requirement of Prior Approval of Laboratory, Medical Consultations and Examination, Chemical Hygiene Officer Designation, Particularly and Hazardous Substances.There are twenty-five states and two U.S territories that have their own OSHA-approved occupational safety and health standards, which must be at least "as effective as" the federal standards. The purpose of the laboratory standard is to ensure that workers in non-production laboratories are informed about the hazards of chemicals in their workplace and are protected from chemical exposures exceeding allowable levels The Laboratory standard achieves this protection by establishing safe work practices in laboratories to implement a Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP).

(http://safety.lovetoknow.com/OSHA_Standard_Precautions)

Applying OSHA Standard Precautions to the workplace.

(http://www.oshacampus.com/blog/health-and-safety-provisions-for-construction/)