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OSHA Hazard Communication Letters of Interpretation
Material Safety Data Sheet distribution to retail hardware store customers.
- Issued
- Record type
- Interpretation
- Historical standard
- 1910.1200, 1987 expanded rule (PDF)
- Current standard
- HCS 2024, as amended
ILPI assessment: Retail duties remain; apply all current conditions
This letter addresses the obsolete 1987 version of the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). Its main HazCom conclusion remains useful: an employer cannot rely on a consumer-product exemption when actual workplace use exceeds its conditions, and retail distribution carries SDS responsibilities.
Use all current retail/distributor provisions, including commercial accounts and upstream-contact information, rather than treating the old upon-request summary as the entire rule. Apply the full consumer-product exemption (FAQ explanation) and distinguish supplier delivery from immediate employee access. The referenced May 16 and October 15, 1990 letters are available locally; named contacts are historical.
Last reviewed: .
About this ILPI assessment
This comparison with current requirements is not a finding that OSHA has formally withdrawn this letter. This assessment reflects editorial judgment informed by human review and AI assistance. It is an opinion, may contain errors or omissions, and is not an official OSHA determination. For guidance on how OSHA requirements apply to your circumstances, contact your local OSHA office.
OSHA's notice about interpretation letters
The following notice is published on OSHA's interpretation pages; it is general guidance, not a letter-specific withdrawal notice.
OSHA requirements are set by statute, standards and regulations. Our interpretation letters explain these requirements and how they apply to particular circumstances, but they cannot create additional employer obligations. This letter constitutes OSHA's interpretation of the requirements discussed. Note that our enforcement guidance may be affected by changes to OSHA rules. Also, from time to time we update our guidance in response to new information. To keep apprised of such developments, you can consult OSHA's website at https://www.osha.gov.
Source: OSHA's original letter page.
January 30,1991
The Honorable Bob McEwen
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman McEwen:
Many of our visitors use these weather-resistant SDS storage boxes like this one. We have 3 different sizes available at Safety Emporium.
Thank you for letter of December 10, 1990, to Patricia K. Clark, regarding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), 29 CFR 1910.1200 [ILPI: Original HCS 1987 context (PDF) · Current HCS]. Your letter transmitted a letter of November 7, 1990, from your constituent, Mr. David L. Wolf of the Ohio Hardware Association in Columbus, Ohio.
We believe that we have already fully addressed Mr. Wolf's concerns regarding material safety data sheet (MSDS) distribution to retail hardware store customers in our two previous letters of May 16 and October 15, 1990. A copy of these two replies, which discuss at length the concerns Mr. Wolf raised, are enclosed for your information and reference.
In his November 7, 1990 letter, Mr. Wolf asserts that we did not previously answer one of the questions he raised, specifically: "How do retailers distribute the MSDSs received from upstream sources?" Our letters make it clear that retail hardware store dealers (or any other operation that distributes hazardous chemicals to employers who will be requiring their employees to work with them) must have on hand and make available upon request a MSDS for each of those chemicals. Employers who buy consumer products for workplace use do not have to have an MSDS for that product if their employee's workplace use of that chemical is or will be as a consumer would use it. If their workplace use will be or is of a greater frequency or duration than normal consumer use, then the employer has an obligation under the HCS to obtain an MSDS for that chemical and make it available to his employees. It is the employer's responsibility to anticipate levels of chemical use by his employees and request the MSDS at the time of purchase. The employer obtains the MSDS from the retailer. The retailer is responsible for maintaining a copy of the MSDS which he receives from the chemical manufacturer with the initial shipment of that chemical or whenever the MSDS is updated or changed to contain new or significant information about the chemical's hazards.
[ILPI note: At issuance: 1910.1200, 1987 expanded rule (PDF). Current counterpart: full retail/distributor duties. See the downstream FAQ; the employer must separately provide ready employee access.]
We hope this clarifies this issue for your constituent. In our previous correspondence to Mr. Wolf, we indicated that the Hazard Communication Coordinator in our Chicago Regional Office, Ms. Ann Williams, would be happy to discuss these issues further with him and provide him with any assistance he may need. The Chicago Regional Office's telephone number is: (312) 353-2220. Thank you again for your letter, and feel free to contact us again if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Gerald F. Scannell
Assistant Secretary
The original official public domain version of this document is available from OSHA at https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/1991-01-30-0.