Hazard Communication (HazCom/GHS) Quiz: 16 Questions with Answers

1. Which of these is NOT one of the six required elements on a HazCom label?

Answer: Employee’s name and badge number

The six required elements are: product identifier, signal word, hazard statement(s), pictogram(s), precautionary statement(s), and the manufacturer’s/importer’s name, address and phone number. Nothing about the label identifies the individual employee.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(1)

2. Which two signal words does the Hazard Communication Standard use on labels?

Answer: "Danger" and "Warning"

"Danger" is used for the more severe hazard categories, "Warning" for the less severe ones within the same hazard class. A label never carries both.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(c) — definitions

3. How many pictograms does OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard require, and is the "environment" pictogram one of them?

Answer: 8 — OSHA does not require the environment pictogram

GHS internationally includes an environment pictogram, but OSHA does not enforce environmental hazard information — it is outside OSHA’s jurisdiction — so only 8 pictograms are required on OSHA-regulated labels.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200, Appendix C

4. A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) must contain how many sections, in a standardized order?

Answer: 16

All 16 are required, in the same order on every SDS — from Section 1 (Identification) through Section 16 (Other information) — so anyone can find the same information in the same place, sheet to sheet.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)

5. What belongs in Section 1 of an SDS?

Answer: Identification — the product identifier, manufacturer, and an emergency phone number

Section 1 is the header information: what the product is, who made it, and who to call in an emergency. First-aid measures are Section 4; disposal is Section 13; transport is Section 14.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200, Appendix D — Section 1

6. When must an employer train employees on hazard communication?

Answer: At the time of initial assignment, and whenever a new chemical hazard the employee has not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area

Like several other OSHA standards, HazCom training is tied to initial assignment plus any genuinely new hazard — not a fixed calendar interval on its own.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(1)

7. What must an employer with hazardous chemicals on site maintain?

Answer: A written hazard communication program describing labeling, how employees can access SDSs, and how training is handled

The written program is the roadmap that ties labels, SDSs and training together for that specific workplace — it is required even if nothing else about the chemicals ever changes.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(1)

8. Must employees be able to access the SDS for a chemical they work with?

Answer: Yes — SDSs must be readily accessible to employees during each work shift

Readily accessible means during the shift it is needed, not after a delay — a binder in a locked office nobody can get into during work hours would not meet this.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(8)

9. GHS classifies chemical hazards into two broad classes. What are they?

Answer: Physical hazards and health hazards

Physical hazards cover things like flammability, corrosivity to metal, and explosives; health hazards cover things like toxicity, carcinogenicity, and skin or eye damage. Every hazard class falls under one of these two umbrellas.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200, Appendices A & B

10. What does the skull-and-crossbones pictogram signal?

Answer: Acute toxicity — can cause death or serious illness quickly

This pictogram is reserved for acute toxicity — a fast-acting, serious health effect, not a slow chronic one and not a physical hazard like flammability.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200, Appendix C

11. What does the "exploding bomb" pictogram indicate?

Answer: Explosives, self-reactive substances, or organic peroxides

This pictogram covers substances that can detonate or react violently on their own, not simply burn — self-reactive chemicals and organic peroxides fall in the same category.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200, Appendix C

12. A worker transfers a chemical into a small secondary container for immediate use during their own shift. Does it need a full GHS label?

Answer: Not if it is used entirely within the same work shift by the employee who made the transfer, and no one else handles it

This is the immediate-use exemption — it exists so a worker is not required to re-label every cup or spray bottle they fill for their own momentary use, as long as it never leaves their control during that shift.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(9)

13. What is the difference between a "hazard statement" and a "precautionary statement" on a label?

Answer: A hazard statement describes the nature and degree of the hazard; a precautionary statement describes the measures to minimize or prevent harmful exposure

One tells you what the danger is ("causes severe skin burns"); the other tells you what to do about it ("wear protective gloves"). Both are required label elements, and both also appear on the SDS.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(c) — definitions

14. Can an employer use their own numbering or order for SDS sections instead of OSHA’s standard layout?

Answer: No — the 16-section numbering and order in Appendix D is required

The whole point of the standardized order is that anyone, anywhere, can flip to the same section number and find the same kind of information — a custom order would defeat that.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2), Appendix D

15. If a chemical mixture itself has not been directly tested, how can its hazards be classified?

Answer: Using available scientific data on the whole mixture, or — where appropriate — data on its ingredients together with established mixture rules

Manufacturers are not allowed to just assume safety; the standard sets out how to classify a mixture from available data, including ingredient-based bridging principles when whole-mixture data does not exist.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(d)(2)–(3)

16. A manufacturer wants to withhold a specific ingredient’s chemical identity as a trade secret. What must still appear on the SDS?

Answer: The hazards of that ingredient must still be disclosed, even with the specific chemical identity withheld — and the identity must be available to health professionals in a medical emergency

Trade secret protection covers the specific identity of an ingredient, not the fact that it is hazardous or how — and it has to give way entirely in a genuine medical emergency.

Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200(i)