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Section 6

Training and Information Resources

I. Documentation of Training

It is the responsibility of the supervisor to recognize when training is needed for his/her employees and to arrange for such training. The supervisor is not responsible to provide any training in the sense that he must develop and present the training program, but rather, the supervisor must recognize the need for training and arrange for his employees to receive it. This training is available in several formats:

  1. A presentation arranged or presented by the local Safety Committee,
  2. A video presentation from the Office of Health and Safety library (See Section 6, "TRAINING AIDS AND INFORMATION RESOURCES"),
  3. A presentation arranged or presented by the Office of Health and Safety staff, or
  4. A presentation arranged or presented by the supervisor.

Training should initiate at the time of an employees initial assignment to a work area where hazardous chemicals are present and prior to assignments involving new exposure situations. The training and education program should be a regular, continuing activity--not simply an annual presentation. Use the form DOCUMENTATION OF TRAINING (Appendix K) to document such training. Supervisors shall maintain all documentation of training for his/her employees.

II. Training Aids

The following audiovisual materials are available as training aids from the Office of Health and Safety:

  1. FEDERAL HAZARD COMMUNICATION TRAINING PROGRAM consists of seven lessons that incorporate videotape and workbook learning resource. The videotapes and STUDENT WORKBOOK together comprise a complete self-study training program or, in a classroom training situation, the TRAINER'S GUIDE should be used to supplement the program and assist the Trainer.
    Topics include:
    a. The Federal Hazard Communication Standard (30 minutes)
    b. Chemical Forms and Exposure Hazards (35 minutes)
    c. Types of Physical and Health Hazards (30 minutes)
    d. Controlling Chemical Hazards (30 minutes)
    e. Introduction to material safety data sheets and material safety data sheets Physical
       Hazard Information (35 minutes)
    f. Material safety data sheet health hazard information (30 minutes)
  2. YOUR HEALTH MATTERS: BASIC CONCEPTS OF CHEMICAL SAFETY, ITS (14 minutes)
  3. SAFETY IN THE CHEMISTRY LABORATORY, Savant (42 minutes)
  4. SPILLS HAPPEN, BNA Communications Inc. (22 minutes)
  5. RESPONSIBILITY TO ACT (22 min.)
  6. MAIN STREET, BNA Communications (17 min.)
  7. LAB HOOD SAFETY, ITS (12 min.)
  8. 28 GRAMS OF PREVENTION (20 min.)
  9. EYE AND FACE PROTECTION (10 min.)
  10. YOU BET YOUR EYES (23 min.)
  11. HAZARD ALERT: LABORATORY SPILLS, ITS (11 min.)
  12. BIOCHEMICAL LABORATORY SAFETY, NUS Training (20 min.)
  13. OSHA LAB STANDARD, ITS (13 min.)

III. Publicly Available On-line Database Sources

A. Non-Bibliographic Factual Databases (Health and Safety Data Sources)

  1. ACQUIRE: Aquatic toxicity information. 4,100+ substances (2,4)
  2. AGROCHEMICALS HANDBOOK: Information on active components in agricultural products. Provided by Royal Society of Chemistry. 500 ingredients (3)
  3. CHEMICAL CARCINOGENESIS RESEARCH INFORMATION SYSTEM (CCRIS): Contains individual assay results and test conditions for substances in the areas of carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, tumor production, and carcinogenicity. 1,088+ chemicals (2,4,5)
  4. CHEMICAL EVALUATION SEARCH AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (CESARS): Detailed information and evaluations on chemicals of particular importance in the Great Lakes Basin. Each record has 185 data fields. 194+ chemicals (2,4)
  5. CHEMICAL HAZARDS INFORMATION RESPONSE SYSTEM (CHRIS): Produced by the U.S. Coast Guard; provides information for emergency response during transport of hazardous chemicals. Contains information on labeling, physical and chemical properties, fire hazards, chemical reactivity, water pollution, and hazard classifications. 1,016+ substances (2)
  6. CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS (CTCP): Ingredient and product information for most commercially available non-food items. Toxicity information for more than 1,600 potentially dangerous ingredients with over 30 fields of information. 23,000+ ingredient listings (2)
  7. DERMAL: Focuses on dermal absorption of chemical substances. Data on absorption, toxic effects, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. 600+ substances (2,4)
  8. DIRLINE: Contains information on reference centers, information resources, and individuals or groups who are willing to provide users with information. (7)
  9. GENETOX: Genetic assay results. 2,500+ substances (2,4)
  10. HAZARDLINE: Emergency response, safety, regulatory, and health information profiles. 4,000+ chemicals (6)
  11. HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES DATA BANK (HSDB): Detailed, reviewed chemical profiles including 144 data elements in 10 general data categories. 4,100+ chemicals (5)
  12. HEILBRON: Full text of Dictionary of Organic Compounds and Dictionary of Organometallic Compounds. 75,000 entries (3)
  13. MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEETS (MSDS): Information extracted from hazardline profiles in material safety data sheets format. 3,200+ chemicals (6)
  14. OIL AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE DATA SYSTEM (OHMTADS): Limited tox data; emphasis on environmental and safety data for spills response with 126 fields. 1,400+ chemicals (2,4)
  15. REGISTRY OF TOXIC EFFECTS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES (RTECS): Un-evaluated toxicity data in 23 data fields. Includes acute and chronic toxicity data; primary skin and eye irritant data; and carcinogen, mutagen, reproductive and tumorigen data. 80,000+ substances (2,4,7)
  16. TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT TEST SUBMISSIONS (TSCATS): Unpublished health and safety studies submitted to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under various sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act. 2,228+ chemicals (2)

B. Publicly Available On-line Database Sources: Bibliographic Databases (Citations to Journal Articles and Research Papers)

  1. AGRICOLA: Database of the National Agricultural Library. Covers pesticides, fertilizers and other agriculturally related subjects. 1970 to present; 2,229,000+ citations (3)
  2. BIOSIS PREVIEWS: Worldwide coverage of life sciences. 1969 to present; 5,100,000+ citations (1, 3, 11)
  3. CANCERLIT: Abstracts from Carcinogenesis Abstracts, Cancer Therapy Abstracts and other sources. 1963 to present; 520,000+ citations (3, 7)
  4. CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS: Covers worldwide chemical literature. 12,000+ journals (1, 3, 10, 13)
  5. CHEMICAL EXPOSURE: Body-burden information and references. 1974 to present; 16,000+ citations (3)
  6. CIS-ILO: Indexes worldwide literature on occupational safety and health. 1976 to present (7, 9)
  7. EMBase (Excerpta Medica database): European biomedical database similar to MEDLINE. 1974 to present; 3,000,000+ citations (3)
  8. HSELine: Covers all Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive (British OSHA) publications and miscellaneous health and safety documents. 1977 to date; 59,000+ citations (7, 8)
  9. LIFE SCIENCES COLLECTION: Section corresponding to Toxicology Abstracts. 1978 to present; 847,000+ citations (3)
  10. MEDLINE: Can search for chemical information with subheadings for adverse effects, poisoning, and toxicity. Can limit retrieval to human and/or review only. 1966 to present; 5,200,000+ citations (1, 3, 7)
  11. NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE (NTIS): Reports of U.S. Government-sponsored research and development. 1964 to present; 1,200,000+ citations (1, 3, 10, 11)
  12. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (NIOSH): Covers all aspects of occupational health and safety. Early literature well represented. 1973 to present; 170,000+ citations (3, 7)
  13. PRE-MED: Current clinical medicine from 108 core medical journals. Current 4 months; 5,000+ citations (1)
  14. SCISEARCH: Corresponds to the publication entitled Science Citation Index. 1974 to present; 7,200,000+ records (3)
  15. TOXLINE: Covers pharmacological, biochemical, physiological and toxic effects of chemicals and drugs. Thirteen sub-files, including selected references from chemical abstracts and biological abstracts. 1965 to present; 1,700,000+ citations (7)

C. Publicly Available Online Database Sources: Chemical Databases

  1. CHEMLINE: Contains CAS Registry Numbers, molecular formulas, synonyms, Chemical Abstracts index names, and locator designations that point to other files in the NLM system. Fragment and ring searching is supported. 675,000+ chemicals (7)
  2. SUBSTRUCTURE AND NOMENCLATURE SEARCH SYSTEM (SANSS): Each entry includes CAS Registry Number, Chemical Abstracts Service name, synonyms and trade names, molecular formula, connection table, and references to CIS and other sources of information. Substructure and fragment searching is supported. Can be used as gateway to other CIS databases. 350,000+ chemicals (2,4)

IV. Referenced Data Systems

  1. BRS-Bibliographic Retrieval Services, 1200 RT. 7, Latham, N.Y. (800)-833-4707.
  2. CIS-Chemical Information Systems, Inc. 7215 York Rd., Baltimore, MD 21212. (301) 821-5980.
  3. Dialog-Dialog Information Systems, Inc. 3460 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304. (800) 3-DIALOG.
  4. ICIS-ICI Consultants, 1133 15th St., N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC. (202) 822-5200.
  5. NLM-National Library of Medicine, Specialized Information Services, Bldg. 38A, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20309. (301) 496-1131.
  6. OHS- Occupational Health Services, Inc., Suite 2407, 457th Ave., New York, NY 10123. (212) 967-1100.
  7. OSH/ROM-Silver Platter Information, Inc., 37 Walnut St., Wellesley Hills, MA 02181. (617) 239-0306. (CD-ROM for IBM PC and compatibles)
  8. Pergamon Infoline-Pergamon Infoline, Inc., 1340 Old Chain Bridge Road, McLean, VA 22101. (703) 442-0900.
  9. Questel-5201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 603, Falls Church, VA 22041. (703) 845-1133.
  10. SDC-SDC Information Services, 2500 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90406. (213) 820-4111.
  11. STN-STN International, Chemical Abstracts Service, P.O. Box 2228, Columbus, Ohio 43202. (800) 848-6538.

V. Chemical Substance Data Sheets

(Not updated regularly like material safety data sheets collections)

  1. Handbook of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Carcinogens. 1985. Sittig,
    Marshall. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Publications. Comprehensive information on some 800 chemicals. The chemicals are presented alphabetically along with data on first aid, incompatibilities, synonyms, potential exposure, personal protective methods, disposal, and other related categories.
  2. Hazardous Chemical Data Book. 1986. Weiss, G., ed. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Data Corporation.
    Contains material safety data sheets alphabetically arranged from the Coast Guard CHRIS (Chemical Hazard Response Information System) program of 1978 and from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1979). Over 1,350 chemicals are covered in this book. The book's purpose is to provide instant information for decision-making in emergency situations by personnel involved with chemical accidents.
  3. Hygienic Guide Series. American Industrial Hygiene Association, 475 Wolf
    Ledges Parkway, Akron, Ohio 44311. Contains information on hygienic standards, toxic properties, physical properties, industrial hygiene practice and medical treatment.
  4. Occupational Health Guidelines for Chemical Hazards. 1981. Mackinson, F., et.al., ed. Washington, DC: DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 81-123 U.S.
    Government Printing Office. Comprehensive but covers few chemicals. These guidelines were prepared by Arthur D. Little, Inc. under a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) contract from data compiled, evaluated, and reviewed under the joint NIOSH/OSHA Standards Completion Program.
  5. The Sigma-Aldrich Library of Chemical Safety Data. 1986. Aldrich Chemical Co., Milwaukee,WI 53201. (414) 273-3850.
    Large volume of over 2,600 chemicals listed in the Sigma-Aldrich catalog, with information on health hazards and physical data.

VI. Collections of Material Safety Data Sheets

  1. CCINFOdisc. Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety, 250 Main Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 1H6. (416)572-2981
    Comprehensive CD-ROM data base of chemical information (MSDSs, structures, health effects, disposal etc).
  2. Chemtox. VNR Information Services (VIS), 115 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003. (212) 254-3232.
    Over 3200 chemicals in material safety data sheets-like format, including identifiers, physical and chemical properties, toxicological data, regulatory data, emergency response and personal protection data. Through the use of the REVELATION database manager and MSDS ACESS on IBM and PC-compatibles, users can manipulate and correlate data, store and retrieve information.
  3. IHS Information Handling Services Inc. 15 Inverness Way East, P.O. Box 1154, Englewood, CO 80150. (800) 525-7052.
    Over 36,000 material safety data sheets (about 10500 substances) from over 1100 industrial sources. Ample cross indices enable retrieval by Chemical Abstract Registry Number, supplier name, chemical name, brand name, tradename or synonym. New and revised material safety data sheets are distributed every 60 days. Paper index with microfiche.
  4. Material Safety Data Sheets. Genium Publishing Corporation, 1145 Catalyn Street, Schnectady, NY 12303. (518) 377-8854.
    Published by the Genium Publishing Corporation, Schnectady, New York, with selected updates every 120 days. Detailed information arranged in a format similar to that of the OSHA Form 20 or OSHA Form 174 is given for over 850 substances. It is available on VAX minicomputers and Apple and IBM-compatible microcomputers. To aid compliance with in-house labelling requirements, GENIUM has developed The Label Handbook for Hazard Communication Compliance, containing model labels for over 500 materials.
  5. OHS Occupational Health Services, Inc. Suite 2407, 457th Ave., New York, NY 10123. (212) 967-1100.
    Over 10,000 material safety data sheets, mostly on pure chemicals, updated quarterly with compact disc, computer tape and microfiche service. The information usually found on manufacturers data sheets is supplemented by other information found in the safety and health literature. Data sheets are indexed and referenced by substance name, Trade Name, Chemical Abstracts Registry Number and OHS Number. Available in paper, microfiche, personal computer format, on-line, compact disc, or computer tape.
  6. TOXIC ALERT. Hazox, P.O. Box 637, Chadds Ford, PA 19317. (215) 388-2030.
    Databases of material safety data sheets prepared by ICF, Inc. for the Environmental Protection Agency (about 400 chemicals) and the Northridge TOX Center material safety data sheets (over 1,000 chemicals). Available for IBM PC and PC-compatibles

VII. Useful Texts for Additional Information

  1. Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products. 1984. R. E. Gosselin, H.C. Hodge et al. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Co.
  2. Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials. 1984. N. Irving Sax. New York: Van Nostrand Rheinhold Co.
  3. Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man. 1982. R.C. Baselt. Davis, CA: Biomedical Publications, Inc.
  4. Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values. 1986. Cincinnati: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.
  5. Fire Protection Guide on Hazardous Materials. 1986. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association.
  6. Handbook of Compressed Gases. 1966. Compressed Gas Association. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
  7. Handbook of Poisoning. 1983. R.H. Dreisbach, ed. Los Altos, CA: Lange Medical Publications.
  8. Merck Index: An Encyclopedia of Chemicals and Drugs. 1983. M. Windholz, ed. Rahway, NJ: Mereck & Co., Inc.
  9. Pesticides Studied in Man. 1982. W. Hayes, Jr. ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Co.
  10. Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. 1990. F.W. Mackison et al., ed. DHEW (NIOSH). Publication No. 90-117.
  11. Pattys Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology. 1981. Clayton, G.D. and F.E. Clayton, eds. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
  12. Toxicology of the Eye. 1985. W.M. Grant. ed. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Chemical Safety Manual Contents

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Office of Health and Safety, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
1600 Clifton Road N.E., Mail Stop F05 Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA
Last Modified: 1/2/97
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