Article 1. General Provisions of California Labor Code >> Division 5. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 2.5. >> Article 1.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Hazardous Substances Information and Training Act.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
  (1) Hazardous substances in the workplace in some forms and concentrations pose potential acute and chronic health hazards to employees who are exposed to these substances.
  (2) Employers and employees have a right and a need to know the properties and potential hazards of substances to which they may be exposed, and such knowledge is essential to reducing the incidence and cost of occupational disease.
  (3) Employers do not always have available adequate data on the contents and properties of specific hazardous substances necessary for the provision of a safe and healthful workplace and the provision of information and training to employees as is the responsibility of the employer under existing law.
  (4) Many effective employee information and training programs now exist, and with the increased availability of basic information and with the extension of such programs to all affected employees, preventable health risks in the workplace would be further reduced.
  (b) The Legislature, therefore, intends by this chapter to ensure the transmission of necessary information to employees regarding the properties and potential hazards of hazardous substances in the workplace.

The rights and duties set forth in this chapter apply to all employers who use hazardous substances in this state, to any person who sells a hazardous substance to any employer in this state, and to manufacturers who produce or sell hazardous substances in this state. The provisions of this chapter apply to hazardous substances which are present in the workplace as a result of workplace operations in such a manner that employees may be exposed under normal conditions of work or in a reasonably foreseeable emergency resulting from workplace operations. For purposes of this chapter, an emergency includes, but is not limited to, equipment failure, rupture of containers, or failure of control equipment, which may or do result in a release of a hazardous substance into the workplace.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a manufacturer or employer to conduct studies to develop new information.