Hazard Communication

Hospitality Risk Control Training

To further increase safety education to those who handle chemicals, OSHA, CalOSHA, and other regulatory bodies are requiring chemical manufacturers to be even more intentional in the design of their labels to ensure the following items can be easily identified on a label:

• Chemical Name Identifier
• Manufacturers’ Name/Address/Telephone
• Signal Words (e.g. Danger)
• Hazard Statements
• Warning Statements
• Additional Info: (GHS Pictograms/DOT)

The employer will continue to be obligated to offer education on the 6 topics above along with how to read a Safety Data Sheet (SDS), PPE requirements and First Aid requirements. The employer will also have to ensure labels are replaced if they become damaged, necessitating the need for formal labels and not “sharpie labels.”

The Most Common Chemicals and Associated Hazards in Restaurants

• Chlorine Tablets: Keep the lid attached on the bucket, wear gloves, and if possible collapse the inner bag around the tablets to prevent moisture attaching to the tablets. Moisture will release chlorine vapors from the tablets and could overwhelm the next person to open the bucket.
• Muriatic Acid: When diluting Muriatic Acid in the acid injector, fill the injector with water first to the proper level, then add the acid second. Use gloves and goggles when pouring the acid into the injector.
• Bleach: DO NOT PURCHASE OR BRING BLEACH ONTO THE PROPERTY! Use only approved cleaners from the dilution station.
• Degreaser: Use the mixer dispenser to create a new spray bottle of degreaser and ensure the spray bottle has a “degreaser” label. Use gloves and safety glasses, and spray carefully to prevent degreaser from splashing back into your eyes.
• Multi-Purpose Cleaner: Use the mixer dispenser to create a new spray bottle of cleaner and ensure the spray bottle has a “Multi-Purpose Cleaner” label. When in the guest room, use gloves and turn your head to the side when spraying into showers to prevent breathing in vapors.

Decision Point: What Would You Do if You Observed…

Observation	Action
A container of bleach in the kitchen or laundry.	Report it to your supervisor and arrange for someone to take it home.
Unlabeled spray bottles in the laundry or on a housekeeping cart.	Remove the spray bottle and give it to your supervisor for re-labeling. Or dump the contents in the sink, wash with water and recycle the container. We don’t want to re-use containers where left over chemicals might react.
An employee in the kitchen spraying degreaser without gloves or glasses.	Encourage the employee to stop, wash, and dry their hands, put on nitrile gloves, and then return to cleaning.
Maintenance personnel adding acid to an empty acid injector.	Strongly encourage the employee to stop, put on gloves and goggles, carefully and slowly add water down the side of the injector tube to fill up the tube, and then add the required amount of acid at the end.
Maintenance personnel adding chlorine tablets into the injector tube without glasses or gloves.	Encourage the employee to stop, put on nitrile gloves and glasses, lower their hand close to the water level, and then release the chlorine tablets into the water.