Tracking code caldwell guardian

Friday, May 28, 2010

MSDS Safety Information Not Provided To County Employees

It has been reported to THE GUARDIAN an altercation (shouting match) between a county maintenance worker and another county employee over spraying an unknown chemical in the offices of the county clerks on the second floor of the courthouse today.  Employees are getting headaches, nausea and calling in sick from the usage of the unknown chemical spray.  Employees have asked to know what they are getting exposed to without success.  They have a federally mandated right to know this information.

Material Safety Data Sheets  (MSDS) are required by federal law to be on file and accessible to employees exposed to all chemicals used in the workplace.  MSDS records are part and parcel of any OSHA inspection.


A material safety data sheet (MSDS) is a form containing data regarding the properties of a particular substance. An important component of product stewardship and workplace safety, it is intended to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point, etc.), toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill-handling procedures. MSDS formats can vary from source to source within a country depending on national requirements.
MSDS (material safety data sheets) are a widely used system for cataloging information on chemicals, chemical compounds, and chemical mixtures. MSDS information may include instructions for the safe use and potential hazards associated with a particular material or product. These data sheets can be found anywhere where chemicals are being used.


There is also a duty to properly label substances on the basis of physico-chemical, health and/or environmental risk. Labels can include hazard symbols such as the European Union standard black diagonal cross on an orange background, used to denote a harmful substance.

Workers at the courthouse have been unable to get a direct answer to why they are getting sick nor are they getting any information about what was sprayed in their work environment while they working.

 We worry about workers getting treated as #2 pencils to be discarded and kept in the dark about potentially hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
Posted by Paul Alldredge at 12:26 PM

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousSaturday, May 29, 2010 7:47:00 PM

    That courthouse is a disaster waiting to happen. They have more maintenance personnel standing around and driving around not accomplishing anything, but getting a paycheck from the taxpayers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSunday, May 30, 2010 11:11:00 AM

    Just another series of cover-ups in the court house.

    ReplyDelete

A public discourse on the issues of the day makes the world a better place.

We welcome comments but they will be moderated and edited if too long or do not have anything to do with the post.
Agree or disagree just do it without profanity or it won't get posted. Try to keep your comments to no more than 300 words. Too long and I will try to edit it down or simply delete the comment. The whole idea is to get people to read your comment. Don't use 10 words when one will do the job.

It's OK to have a difference of opinion but keep it civil. I have used the "delete" feature on myself at times.

The ANONYMOUS feature for comments seems to be the most user friendly. People have commented they have difficulty with the other methods of posting comments.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)