 My name is Charlie Johnson. I've been in business for about three and a half years. It's been a struggle getting the company off the ground, but things are starting to go well now. This year we put a cleaning product on the market, and preliminary reports indicate that we have a winner. I've taken a lot of risks to get the business this far, but I'm no gambler. I studied the market before starting. I've borrowed a lot of money. I have a major investment in plant and equipment, and I have 12 great employees working here. Our success didn't happen by accident, and I don't want to do anything to destroy it. After all, half of all businesses that fail are less than five years old. Success or failure depends on the correct choices on calculated risks. There's less and less room in today's markets for a bad decision. So what do I do? Like most of you, research. And more research. What is the competition charging? Who are the best suppliers? What is the best marketing strategy? Even after I've done the research, I'm taking risks. My research can be faulty. Take the chemicals that we use to manufacture our products. It takes time to know everything I may need to know about their characteristics and how to handle them. Most managers and workers don't know as much as they should about the chemicals they work with. The rest of this program is about managing the risk of the exposure to chemicals. A risk you really can't afford to take. I think you'll see what I mean. Once a worker's health is damaged, your costs can seem to come from everywhere at once. Sick leave means lost productivity. Long-term sick leave means increased direct and indirect costs. Workers' compensation rates in most states are tied to your injury and illness records. In some states, workers' compensation statutes may protect you from claims against you by your employees. In other states, they may not. Society as a whole expects all companies to be good corporate citizens. Public disclosure of worker chemical exposures can be very damaging to your public relations and your profits. In today's competitive market, companies cannot afford a tarnished public image. If your workforce doubts the sincerity of your efforts to provide a safe working environment, you'll most likely have labor relations problems. Much attention is paid to health matters in a community, and if your company is perceived as unhealthful, it will almost certainly suffer for it. Finally, there are laws regulating chemical use in the workplace, any workplace, federal laws, state laws, and local laws. There are civil penalties and, in some cases, criminal penalties. In 1985, three officers of the same company were convicted of second-degree murder for the on-the-job death of one of their employees. This case was a landmark in the history of legal actions against managers who disregarded the health of their employees. Managers face a mandate of controlling the ever-increasing range of workplace hazards. In 1983, the federal government adopted regulations intended to ensure that employees of manufacturing firms are made aware of hazardous chemicals they are exposed to at work. Non-manufacturing businesses were included in 1988. These regulations became known as the Right to Know Law, or the Hazard Communication Standard. I know you're wondering, so, just what do I have to do? In simple terms, you find out what your company uses that is hazardous, and you make sure that your employees know how to work with whatever you find, and you continue to do that as long as you're in business. Set up a hazard communication program for your employees. It should include an inventory of hazardous chemicals that you use, a file of information about their effects on workers, and how to handle them safely, the labeling of hazardous chemical containers, the training of employees and how to work safely with the hazards, and a written plan for the entire program. Here are a few details. First, determine what substances you're using. Chemical manufacturers and distributors are required to provide information about each hazardous chemical they sell you. They must send you this information in the form of a material safety data sheet if you request it. This MSDS, as it is called, is the raw material from which you must fashion the rest of your hazard communications. You should keep these sheets in a file where the employees can get them. An MSDS tells you, among other things, physical and chemical characteristics of the material. Health hazards, any adverse human effects resulting from exposure, how the material can enter the human body, how much exposure is permitted, either by law or by the consensus of health professionals, and ways to control exposures such as handling instructions and personal protective equipment. Much of this information can be put to use in the training program you devise for your employees. We'll get to that in a minute. First, a word about labeling containers. Label all containers for hazardous chemicals with the identity of the chemical, the appropriate hazard warnings, and the name and address of the manufacturer. Consider illustrated warnings or pictograms which are easy to identify and understand. In many cases, the company who sells you the product will have already labeled it this way, but if they haven't, it's your responsibility to do it. If the chemical is transferred to another container, in most cases it must be labeled too. The heart of the hazard communication effort is training your employees. Sharing the knowledge of hazards and how to handle them is an effective way to protect workers against those hazards. Train them when they start work or when you first start the training program, and every time a new hazard is introduced to their workplace. Start by informing them what is required by the hazard communication standard. Then tell them where in their work area there are hazardous chemicals. Show them where they can find the written description of your hazard communication program and the MSD sheets. That's not all. Teach them how the specific chemicals they must work with can be detected, for example, monitoring devices or what they look or smell like. Teach them the importance of reading the container labels. Teach them what the hazard potential to their health is, both short-term and long-term. Show them how to protect themselves from the hazards by using work practices, emergency procedures, and personal protective equipment. Compliance with the hazard communication standard will involve time and expense, but it is easier and more economical than trying to explain to authorities why you are not in compliance with the law, especially when serious injury, illness, or a fatality is involved. If you do these things, develop a master list of chemicals in each facility you operate, obtain material safety data sheets, set up a file for hazardous chemical information that is accessible to every employee on every shift, label chemical containers, and train your employees, then you've gone a long way toward eliminating this unnecessary risk from your business. You're also living up to the responsibilities that federal regulations have set out for business operators. The heart of the intent of these regulations is to ensure that employees are informed of the hazards they face at work. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, administers these regulations. A major OSHA responsibility includes the inspection of businesses for compliance with the standard. The Act gives OSHA the authority to issue citations and assess penalties. As you know, a penalty is a loss of profit. Take a look at the law. If you follow the recommendations that we've just made, you'll be well on your way to compliance. There are a number of finer points, such as how to deal with chemicals that are classified as trade secrets. Trade secrets are a difficult problem. Exemptions are permitted, but recent court decisions indicate that jurors will not allow secrecy at the expense of safety. A business that takes unnecessary risks probably will not survive. Yet, to some degree, risk is involved in every business venture. Research hazardous chemicals for yourself. I think you'll agree that minimizing the risk of employee exposure to chemicals will result in a healthier, more productive workforce. It will also increase profits by saving on health costs, OSHA penalties, court costs, and loss of public confidence in your business.