OSHA Hazard Communication and Chemical Hygiene (Online CE Course)

(based on 6,854 customer ratings)

Author: Terry Jo Gile, MT(ASCP)MA Ed;
Reviewer: Barbara Cebulski, MS, MLS(ASCP)

This course covers the OSHA Chemical Hygiene Standard and helps satisfy OSHA requirements for annual training. Terry Jo Gile covers Haz-Com, the NFPA diamond, and SDS, and explains common sense laboratory safety rules applied to clinical laboratory practice. Appropriate for annual laboratory compliance training and for clinical laboratory science students prior to clinical rotations.

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Continuing Education Credits

P.A.C.E.® Contact Hours (acceptable for AMT, ASCP, and state recertification): 1 hour(s)
Approved through 7/31/2025
Florida Board of Clinical Laboratory Personnel Credit Hours - Supervision/Administration, Quality Control/Quality Assurance, and Safety: 1 hour(s)
Approved through 7/31/2025

Objectives

  • Explain the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Hazard Communications Standard as it relates to healthcare areas where hazardous chemicals are handled and/or stored.
  • Explain labels and coding systems that alert users to chemical hazards.
  • Explain each section of a safety data sheet (SDS).
  • Identify basic laboratory common sense rules that apply to chemical handling.

Customer Ratings

(based on 6,854 customer ratings)

Course Outline

Click on the links below to preview selected pages from this course.
  • Chemicals -- Past and Present
    • Introduction
    • Chemicals
      • Hazard Communication Standard (HCS)
      • Regulation of Chemical Hazards in the Laboratory
      • Where would you find an evaluation of the carcinogenic potential of all chemicals used in the laboratory?
    • Responsibility
      • Employer Responsibility
      • Your Responsibility
  • Labeling Systems
      • Globally Harmonized System for Labeling of Chemicals
      • Hazard Labels: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
      • Other Labeling Systems
      • Labeling Secondary Containers
      • What hazard is indicated by the pictogram on the right?
      • What does the blue diamond signify within the NFPA safety diamond?
  • Safety Data Sheets
  • Lab Safety Precautions
  • References
      • References

Additional Information

Level of Instruction: Basic
Intended Audience: Health care personnel and other professional personnel whose occupations involve the potential of exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Author Information: Terry Jo Gile, MT(ASCP)MA Ed has over 45 years experience as a certified medical technologist. She has a bachelor's degree in Biology from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and a master's degree in Education from Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. For 20 years she was a member of the management team at Barnes-Jewish Hospital Department of Laboratories in St. Louis, Missouri, and served as the Safety Officer as well as a laboratory safety consultant to the BJC Health System. Terry Jo headed her own consulting firm, Safety Lady, LLC, for 27 years. In that capacity, she lectured and consulted worldwide on the proper implementation of safety programs in clinical laboratories.
Reviewer Information: Barbara Cebulski, MS, MLS(ASCP) has over 40 years of experience in the medical laboratory profession as a technologist, section supervisor, and laboratory manager. She was an Inspection and Technical Specialist for nine years with the College of American Pathologists in the Laboratory Accreditation Program and, until her retirement in 2015, was Program Director for MediaLab, Inc. Barbara holds a Masters in Instructional Technology from Georgia State University.

Labled chemical bottles


Lab worker with gloves cleaning up a laboratory spill.


Personal Protective Equipment


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