§ 28-21-3 - Employer notice requirements – Chemical identification lists.
SECTION 28-21-3
§ 28-21-3 Employer notice requirements– Chemical identification lists. – (a) Each employer shall obtain and maintain chemical identification listscontaining the following information with regard to the chemical substances:
(i) The common and trade names of all designated substancespresent in the workplace in alphabetical order, cross referenced to theirchemical names;
(ii) For mixtures, the list shall contain the chemical and/ortrade names of any mixture that contains designated substances present inamounts greater than one percent (1%) of a volume of more than two (2) gallonsor ten (10) pounds within the workplace except in the case of carcinogens,mutagen, or teratogen which shall be reported if they are present in amounts ofone part per ten thousand (10,000) by volume or greater; and, provided, thatnothing contained in this subdivision precludes the director of labor andtraining from establishing more stringent standards pursuant to rules andregulations in conformity with the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 oftitle 42.
(2) The chemical identification list shall include theindividual designated substances present in the mixture except as provided in§ 28-21-10.
(b) Each employer shall obtain a material safety data sheetfor each designated substance or mixture containing the designated substancethat must conform to the federal occupational safety and health administrationregulations on preparing material safety data sheets, 29 CFR 1910.1200(g).
(c) Upon being advised by an employer that the employer hasmade efforts to obtain material safety data sheets or other informationnecessary to determine whether a substance which is in the employer's workplaceis, may be, or may contain a designated substance, which efforts are documentedand include, but are not limited to, a certified letter to the manufacturer,supplier, and/or distributor of the substance, and which efforts have resultedin failure to obtain the necessary information, the employer shall advise thedepartment of labor and training of the failure within forty-five (45) days ofthe date the information was originally requested by the employer. Thedepartment of labor and training shall make demand of the manufacturer for therequested information, and shall notify the manufacturer that the manufacturerwill be prohibited from selling or distributing the substance to any employerin Rhode Island unless the manufacturer supplies the information within ninety(90) days from the date the employer first requested the information. In thecase of a mixture, the department of labor and training shall grant a varianceto the employer which shall extend the above time period to one hundred eighty(180) days. The department of labor and training will make every effort toassist the employer in obtaining the necessary information. Until the necessaryinformation is forthcoming from the manufacturer or otherwise obtained, theemployer shall treat the mixture for which it has not received or developed thenecessary information as a designated substance, until proven otherwise, andwill protect employees accordingly, which protection shall include the listingof the mixture as a designated substance.
(d) Each employer covered by this chapter shall annuallysubmit to the department of labor and training:
(1) An updated chemical identification list;
(2) Documentation detailing the nature of training providedemployees as called for in § 28-21-9. The documentation shall be in astandardized form determined by the department.