New Hampshire Revised Statutes 277-A:5 – Employer’s Duty to Provide Information
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Subject to the limitations of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 277-A:4, III, every employer whose employees handle, use, or are otherwise exposed to any toxic substance during the course and scope of their employment shall:
I. Keep on file in a convenient office location and make available for examination and reproduction upon request a safety data sheet for each toxic substance or product mixture containing 2 or more toxic substances to which an employee may be exposed in carrying out his or her duties.
II. Post a notice, written in clearly understandable nontechnical language, in a conspicuous location accessible to the employees and as close to the work area as possible containing the word “Warning” in large letters and all the following information on each toxic substance to which employees may be exposed:
(a) The name or names of the substance.
(b) The acute and chronic hazards of exposure to the substance.
(c) Symptoms of exposure and overexposure, including known behavioral effects.
(d) Appropriate emergency treatment for exposure and overexposure.
(e) Proper conditions for safe use of and exposure to the substance.
(f) Procedures for cleanup of leaks and spills of the substance.
(g) Procedures in case of fire or other environmental changes which would result in increasing the substance’s hazardous or toxic properties.
III. Post a notice of the availability of a safety data sheet for each of the toxic substances to which the employee may be exposed and, upon request by an employee for a safety data sheet, supply such data sheet within 72 hours.
IV. Conduct an education and training program within 180 days of October 26, 1983, for all employees routinely exposed to toxic substances, and thereafter during the first month of employment of any such new employee, informing such employees of the nature of the toxic substances to which they will be exposed, prescribing proper and safe procedures for handling under all circumstances, and advising them of the potential risks involved.
V. Make every reasonable effort to obtain from manufacturers, producers, formulators, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, or any other authoritative source, any new or updated information concerning the toxic substances in his or her workplace and to make such information available to all affected employees immediately.
VI. Notify all employees of their rights under this chapter.
VII. Send a copy of each safety data sheet with details of the specific locations of each toxic substance and available extinguishing agents to the local fire department. Such safety data sheets shall be available for public inspection at such fire departments.
VIII. Maintain on file at the workplace safety data sheets for a period of at least 30 years after discontinuation of the use of each toxic substance. In the event that the employer ceases operations or relocates, all safety data sheets shall be submitted to the department of labor to be maintained on file for the statutorily required 30 year period. All rights of access to safety data sheets provided in this chapter shall apply to the full 30 year period.
I. Keep on file in a convenient office location and make available for examination and reproduction upon request a safety data sheet for each toxic substance or product mixture containing 2 or more toxic substances to which an employee may be exposed in carrying out his or her duties.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 277-A:5
- Employee: means any person who currently works or formerly worked, with or without compensation, in a workplace. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 277-A:3
- Employer: means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, the state, any political subdivision of the state, or any other entity which is engaged in a business or in providing services and which employs employees in connection with such business or services. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 277-A:3
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of these laws, shall mean the section next preceding or following that in which such reference is made, unless some other is expressly designated. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:13
- month: shall mean a calendar month, and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:8
- Safety data sheet: means a written document prepared on a toxic substance containing all of the following information except as provided by N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 277-A:3
- Toxic substance: means any radioactive or other substance which is defined as a toxic substance by a rule adopted pursuant to N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 277-A:3
- Workplace: means any location, permanent or temporary, where an employee performs any work-related duty in the course of his employment. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 277-A:3
II. Post a notice, written in clearly understandable nontechnical language, in a conspicuous location accessible to the employees and as close to the work area as possible containing the word “Warning” in large letters and all the following information on each toxic substance to which employees may be exposed:
(a) The name or names of the substance.
(b) The acute and chronic hazards of exposure to the substance.
(c) Symptoms of exposure and overexposure, including known behavioral effects.
(d) Appropriate emergency treatment for exposure and overexposure.
(e) Proper conditions for safe use of and exposure to the substance.
(f) Procedures for cleanup of leaks and spills of the substance.
(g) Procedures in case of fire or other environmental changes which would result in increasing the substance’s hazardous or toxic properties.
III. Post a notice of the availability of a safety data sheet for each of the toxic substances to which the employee may be exposed and, upon request by an employee for a safety data sheet, supply such data sheet within 72 hours.
IV. Conduct an education and training program within 180 days of October 26, 1983, for all employees routinely exposed to toxic substances, and thereafter during the first month of employment of any such new employee, informing such employees of the nature of the toxic substances to which they will be exposed, prescribing proper and safe procedures for handling under all circumstances, and advising them of the potential risks involved.
V. Make every reasonable effort to obtain from manufacturers, producers, formulators, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, or any other authoritative source, any new or updated information concerning the toxic substances in his or her workplace and to make such information available to all affected employees immediately.
VI. Notify all employees of their rights under this chapter.
VII. Send a copy of each safety data sheet with details of the specific locations of each toxic substance and available extinguishing agents to the local fire department. Such safety data sheets shall be available for public inspection at such fire departments.
VIII. Maintain on file at the workplace safety data sheets for a period of at least 30 years after discontinuation of the use of each toxic substance. In the event that the employer ceases operations or relocates, all safety data sheets shall be submitted to the department of labor to be maintained on file for the statutorily required 30 year period. All rights of access to safety data sheets provided in this chapter shall apply to the full 30 year period.