Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 52, December 24, 2024
(a) The education
and training program required by Labor Law, section 878, need not be provided
to a former employee or an employee on leave or lay-off unless or until such
employee returns to work.
(b)
Employees are entitled to the education and training required by Labor Law,
section 878, if they are routinely exposed to any toxic substance as "routine
exposure" is defined in section
820.2(e) of this
Part.
(c) Time, location and manner
of training.
(1) The education and training
program required by Labor Law, section 878, must be provided by qualified
trainers during employees' regular working hours, with no loss of pay, in a
location convenient to the job site of the employee(s) receiving such
training.
(2) The education and
training program required by Labor Law, section 878, must be tailored to the
individual workplace environment and must include an oral explanation to
accompany any written material. If a substantial number of the employees in any
particular education and training group speak a particular language other than
English as their primary language and cannot comprehend an English-language
education and training program, the education and training program must be
provided to such employees in that language as well as in English.
(d) Substantive information to be
provided. The information required to be provided to employees by Labor Law,
section 878 (3)(a)-(j) includes:
(1) such
introductory material as is necessary for employees to understand the
information provided pursuant to Labor Law, section 878 (3)(a)-(j), including
but not limited to:
(i) routes by which toxic
substances enter the body;
(ii)
target organs or various toxins, and how toxic substances reach such
organs;
(iii) the retention and
accumulation of toxic substances in the body;
(iv) the concept of synergistic, additive and
antagonistic interactions between substances whereby their toxic effects may be
multiplied or otherwise increased;
(v) the concept of a biological threshhold
level of exposure for the effects of some toxic substances and the absence of
any threshhold exposure level for other toxic substances, such as chemical
carcinogenicity; and
(vi) the
inability of the body to reverse some toxic effects.
(2) information about any toxic substance
known to be present in a mixture, provided that either:
(i) the substance comprises, as an
intentional ingredient or as an impurity, one percent or more by weight of the
mixture; or
(ii) even if the
substance is present only in trace amounts in the mixture, the toxic properties
of the substance are such that the mixture may be hazardous upon exposure
because of the presence of the substance. An example of this situation would be
the presence of 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in the herbicide 2, 4,
5-T;
(3) any Federal,
State and local occupational safety and health laws, ordinances, regulations,
or other requirements or standards for the handling and use of any toxic
substance found in the employees' workplace;
(4) how to read an MSDS or chemical data
sheet;
(5) the use and functioning
of cleanup, firefighting and personal protective equipment, in both ordinary
and special use conditions, and any workplace policy for when such equipment is
to be used; and
(6) the sources
from which employees may obtain further information concerning the toxic
substances in their workplace, the hazardous consequences of such substances,
and the available protective measures, including the addresses and telephone
numbers of the nearest offices of the agencies listed in Labor Law, section
876(3).
(e) Updating the
education and training program.
(1) Before
any new toxic substance may be introduced into the workplace, an employer must
provide employees with the required education and training for that
substance.
(2) Upon the receipt of
information indicating that a substance already in use in the workplace is
toxic, an employer shall promptly provide employees with the required education
and training for that substance.
(f) Employees' rights. The education and
training program for employees required by Labor Law, section 878, shall
include the following information:
(1) the
employees' right to notice and information, the type of information to be
provided, and the procedures for obtaining such information, under Labor Law,
section 876, and these regulations;
(2) the employees' right to refuse to work
with a toxic substance for which a request for information was made but not
responded to within 72 hours of the request; the right not to lose pay or
forfeit any other privilege until a proper response to the request is received;
and the right not to be discharged, disciplined, penalized, or discriminated
against for exercising any right under Labor Law, article 28, or these
regulations; and that complaints regarding violations of Labor Law, article 2,
8 or these regulations may be made to either the New York State Department of
Labor or the Attorney General of the State of New York;
(3) the employees' right to education and
training, the specific information required to be provided through such
education and training, and the manner in which such education and training is
to be provided under Labor Law, section 878, and these regulations;
and
(4) the employer's
recordkeeping obligations and employees' right to examine and copy such records
under Labor Law, section 879, and these regulations.
(g) Recordkeeping. Employers shall maintain a
written record of training given to employees. This record shall describe the
training, the date or dates on which it was given, the names of the employees
in attendance at each session, and the person(s) conducting the training. These
records shall be maintained by the employer for the duration of each employee's
employment and shall be made available upon request to the employee, his or her
representative, the New York State Department of Labor and the Attorney General
of the State of New York.
