Companies that enhance cleaning efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus Covid-19 could find themselves subject to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), experts have warned.
Facilities not usually subject to HCS requirements may have to provide safety data sheets (SDSs) and even employee training if they begin to use household cleaners in a duration and frequency that exposes workers to amounts beyond what a typical consumer would experience, Frederick Rom, a partner with law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, said during a recent webinar on Covid-19 in the workplace hosted by the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (Socma).
The HCS gives employees the right to know the hazards and identities of the substances they are exposed to in the workplace. While the use of consumer cleaning products in a commercial setting is usually exempt, Mr Rom said that exemption may not apply if employees are cleaning at an enhanced level.
Osha representatives were not immediately available to comment.
Meanwhile, manufacturers that remain open during the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic may have additional new considerations to contend with, Beth Tyner Jones, also a partner with Womble Bond Dickinson, said during the webinar.
Many chemical manufacturers in the US have been deemed "essential" operations and have been allowed to remain open despite stay-at-home orders issued in the majority of US states, Ms Jones said.
Some state and local orders, however, include limits on the use of personnel, even in essential facilities, she said. Facilities may still need to implement social distancing, stagger work shifts or limit where workers can go.
The "best practice", she said, is to "to allow any worker who can telework to do that".