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The Home page of ILPI's Safety Data Sheet (SDS) Resource, the leader in SDS information since 1995!
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You are here! The OSHA regulations behind SDS regulations, including the inspection guidelines and over 400 official interpretations letters under the Hazard Communication Standard
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OSHA Safety Data Sheet (SDS) Regulations

Current OSHA Hazard Communications Regulations and Official Inspection Guidelines (HCS 2024)

The complete previous two versions of this regulation and inspection guidelines are available at the bottom of this page.

OSHA Interpretation Letters for 29 CFR 1910.1200, the HazCom Standard

We've compiled 471 Official OSHA interpretations on the Hazard Communication Standard (and a few on related issues). As with the Standards above, we have made these much easier to read and use.

Some of these interpretations are now obsolete and refer to earlier versions of the Standard (HCS 1984, HCS 1994, and HCS 2012) which have since changed rather significantly. Please be certain to interpret these documents in their historical vs current contexts. We are making an effort to review these interpretations and help the reader determine if they still have any validity, but this is just our opinion only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.

You can browse these by sequentially by title or perform a full-text search of all the documents using the search box at the top of each page in this section.

Interpretations made under the current version of the HazCom Standard (HCS 2024)

Interpretations made under the previous version of the HazCom Standard (HCS 2012)

Interpretations made under the previous version of the HazCom Standard (HCS 1994)

Interpretations listed under the inital version of the HazCom Standard (HCS 1984)

Previous (Obsolete) Versions of HazCom Regulations and Official Inspection Guidelines

The Hazard Communication Standard has undergone three major revisions since its first incarnation which was approved in 1983 and later expanded to include all industries where employees are potentially exposed to hazardous chemicals in 1987. This site contains detailed records of the current version and the two previous versions. The previous versions are presented here for historical reference and are no longer in force, however, many of the elements from the previous versions are still found in the current version.

HCS 2012 (June 1, 2016 through May 19, 2028)

Each change to the standard has included a phase-in period during which compliance with certain elements was possible under both versions. The May 19, 2028 date marks end of that phase-in period. The documents provided below are for historical purposes only and should not be relied upon for current regulatory advice.

HCS 1994 (March 11, 1994 to June 1, 2016)

Each change to the standard has included a phase-in period during which compliance with certain elements was possible under both versions. The June 1, 2016 date marks end of that phase-in period. The documents provided below are for historical purposes only and should not be relied upon for current regulatory advice.