New OSHA Program Focuses on Chemical Safety for Small Businesses

Concerns that small and medium-sized employers may not have resources to protect workers from chemicals are leading OSHA to consider creating a model “chemical management system” that those businesses could adopt.

While large employers have the capability to develop their own chemical protection programs, smaller businesses like auto body shops don’t have that capacity, Andrew Levinson, the head of the standards and guidance directorate at the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said Tuesday.

Levinson was speaking to OSHA’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health in Washington. The agency already has guides for employers that want to create ...