BOS 3640 Unit III Journal Reflection

Unit III Journal Reflection

Name

BOS 3640 Interactions of Hazardous Materials

Columbia Southern University

Unit III Journal Reflection

For this journal entry, I am being asked to reflect on the importance of Section 7 of the new GHS Safety Data Sheet and a general understanding of chemical incompatibility in the workplace. What tool do I currently use and intend to use to evaluate chemical reactivity and incompatibility in my workplace?

Personally, I believe Section 7 of the new GHS Safety Data Sheet is very important and aids workers in better understanding the importance of safe storage and handling of incompatibly chemicals. This section specifically provides guidance on the safe handling and storage of chemicals to include precautions, recommendations for handling incompatible chemicals, minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals into the environment and advice on general hygiene in the workplace, (OSHA, n.d.). Not everyone that handles chemicals in a work center is aware of the dangers that can be present when there are multiple that are not compatible with each other and this can give awareness to those individuals. If for instance an employee that doesn’t normally use cleaning chemicals attempts to use bleach in combination with a cleaner that contains ammonia such as a glass cleaner, they could create a toxic gas that could cause them serious health problems. In my particular workplace the environment is mostly an administrative with members that are not required to use or have never attempted to use or handle any types of chemicals. We still maintain safety data sheets on all cleaning products that we store on the premises. The safety manager maintains a spreadsheet that lists all the cleaning products as well as a link to their digital SDS. Additionally, the spreadsheet lists the physical location the product is stored, potential hazards of the product as well any products the chemical can’t be stored with. In addition to the spreadsheet the use of a chemical reactivity worksheet is utilized. It is a program offed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Response and Restoration. I intend to continue the use of both of these tools in any future workplace I find myself.

Reference:

OSHA. (n.d.). Hazard Communication Standard: Safety Data Sheets. Retrieved from

https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3514.html