OSHA requires all employees who work with or are potentially exposed to hazardous chemicals to receive Hazard Communication (HazCom/GHS) training. This includes virtually every workplace in the United States - an estimated 43 million workers in over 5 million workplaces. Any worker who handles, stores, transports, or may be exposed to chemicals needs this training. This includes workers in manufacturing, construction, laboratories, healthcare, agriculture, janitorial services, and transportation.

eTraining’s GHS Hazard Communication Training takes approximately 1 to 2 hours to complete. The course is self-paced with 4 modules covering introduction, classification, labels, and Safety Data Sheets. Your progress is saved on the device you’re using, allowing you to pick up where you left off on that device.

A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is a standardized document that provides comprehensive information about a hazardous chemical. Under GHS, all SDS must follow a standardized 16-section format covering: identification, hazards, composition, first-aid measures, firefighting measures, accidental release, handling and storage, exposure controls/PPE, physical and chemical properties, stability and reactivity, toxicological information, ecological information, disposal, transport, regulatory information, and other information. Employers must maintain SDS for every hazardous chemical in the workplace and ensure workers know how to access and read them.

The 9 GHS pictograms are standardized symbols that communicate chemical hazards at a glance: (1) Flame – flammable materials; (2) Flame Over Circle – oxidizers; (3) Exploding Bomb – explosives; (4) Corrosion – corrosive to metals and skin; (5) Gas Cylinder – compressed gases; (6) Skull and Crossbones – acute toxicity (fatal/toxic); (7) Exclamation Mark – irritant/lower-level hazards; (8) Health Hazard – serious health effects (carcinogen, respiratory sensitizer); (9) Environment – aquatic toxicity. Each pictogram appears on labels as a red diamond border with a black symbol.

OSHA requires initial Hazard Communication training when employees are first assigned to work with hazardous chemicals, and retraining whenever a new chemical hazard is introduced to the workplace. While OSHA does not specify an annual retraining requirement, best practice is annual refresher training, and many employers require it. Employers must also retrain whenever their written Hazard Communication program is updated.

HazCom (Hazard Communication) is OSHA’s standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) that requires employers to inform workers about chemical hazards. GHS (Globally Harmonized System) is the international framework OSHA adopted in 2012 to standardize how chemicals are classified, labeled, and documented. When people say “GHS training” or “HazCom training,” they are referring to the same OSHA standard - training on chemical hazard classification, labels, and Safety Data Sheets.

OSHA requires every employer with hazardous chemicals in the workplace to maintain a written Hazard Communication program. This document must include: a list of all hazardous chemicals present, how the employer will ensure proper labeling, how SDS will be maintained and made accessible, and how employee training will be conducted. The written program must be available to all employees upon request.

Yes. eTraining offers a complete GHS Hazard Communication Training course in Spanish. The Spanish version covers the same OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200 content, GHS pictograms, SDS format, and labeling requirements, and provides the same certificate upon completion.

Yes. OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard (which incorporates GHS) applies to all employers and workplaces in the United States where employees are exposed to hazardous chemicals. This is one of OSHA’s most broadly applicable standards, affecting an estimated 5 million workplaces. Even workplaces with common chemicals like cleaning products must comply with HazCom/GHS requirements.