Final answer:
Safety data sheets must be available to employees in their workplace. Employers are responsible under OSHA regulations to provide a safe work environment and to inform and train employees about potential hazards, including chemical hazards, with readily accessible safety information and the necessary personal protective equipment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Safety data sheets must be available to employees when they are in their work areas during their work shifts. This accessibility is a requirement by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Employers have a duty not only to provide a safe workplace but also to inform and train workers about potential hazards, which includes ensuring that safety data sheets are readily accessible during their work shifts.
Employers are obligated to provide safety training to workers in a language and vocabulary they can understand, keep accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses, and perform certain tests, such as air sampling. They must also provide required personal protective equipment at no cost and offer medical tests when mandated by OSHA standards. It is critical for employers to first attempt to eliminate or reduce hazards by modifying working conditions before relying on protective gear.
Additionally, employers must inform employees about chemical hazards through various methods, such as labels, alarms, color-coded systems, chemical information sheets, and maintaining a prominently displayed OSHA poster that outlines job safety and health rights and responsibilities.