What is the purpose of hazcom?

Answer 1

Hazcom or hazard communication is the Occupational safety & Health standard or OSHA' standard that addresses how an employer will communicate to workers what substances they work with that are safety/ health hazards- what it can do to you, fire fighting methods, first aid measures, protective equipment required, who made it, and transport safety classification. A material is hazardous if it can poison you, set you on fire, eat holes in you, cause birth defects, etc. Radioactive materials are not included (they have their own standards). It does not address food, beverages, cosmetics, tobacco, pharmaceuticals or pesticides. The standard also addresses labeling of containers. You may have seen one of the forms used in HAZCOM, the MSDS, or Material Safety Data Sheet which is one of the important training that workers, specially those dealing with hazardous materials must take up as it is one of their only tool to ensuring their own health and safety.