Chemical hygiene and safety

The mission of the Chemical Hygiene and Safety Office is to promote laboratory and chemical safety in the campus community.  

We also provide advice and services to campus departments in order to maintain regulatory compliance with respect to hazardous and universal wastes. 

MSDSonline is a campus wide resource for accessing SDS (Safety Data Sheets) as well as relevant safety documents.

From this site, you can:

• search a database of SDS to view relevant safety information about chemicals on campus
• view and print safety documentation (In the Safety Center, under Resources)
• view events on the calendar

Chemical hygiene plan

The Earlham College Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) meets the requirements of the “Laboratory Standard” of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 29 CFR 1910, Subpart Z. The “Laboratory Standard” is known as 29CFR1910.1495 or Occupational Exposures to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories. It requires employers who maintain small laboratories with many hazardous chemicals in small quantities to appoint a Chemical Hygiene Officer and to prepare a Chemical Hygiene Plan. It also requires employees to comply with their employer’s CHP. Where the Laboratory Standard applies, it supersedes the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), 29 CFR 1910.1200, sometimes known as the “Right to Know Act” or “The Haz-Com Act”. The effective implementation date of the Laboratory Standard was January 31, 1991.

The Hazardous Communication Standard applies to areas of the college which use small or large amounts of only a few selected chemicals.

OSHA defines a hazardous chemical as a substance for which there is statistically significant evidence, based on a least one scientific study, showing acute or chronic harm as a result of exposure to that chemical.