CHAPTER 28-21
Hazardous Substances Right-to-Know Act

(1) "Chemical name" means the scientific designation of a substance in accordance with the nomenclature system developed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry or the Chemical Abstract Service Rules of Nomenclature.

(2) "Common name" means any designation or identification, such as trade name or number or code name or brand name, used by the employer to identify a substance other than by its chemical name.

(3) "Designated substance" means any substance contained within the list of toxic or hazardous substances covered by this chapter provided they are in quantities exceeding two (2) gallons or ten (10) pounds of the substance within the workplace, except in the case of carcinogens, mutagen, or teratogen which shall be reported if the concentration is equal to or greater than one part of the substance per ten thousand (10,000) by volume, and provided that nothing contained in this definition precludes the director of labor and training from establishing more stringent standards pursuant to rules and regulations in conformity with the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42.

(4) "Employee" means a person who is:

(i) A current employee;

(ii) A former employee whose physician has reason to believe that an illness or injury may be related to former employment;

(iii) An employee assigned or transferred to work where there will be exposure to designated substances; or

(iv) Any worker who may be exposed under normal conditions of use or foreseeable emergency to designated substances; and

(v) Includes employees of the state or political subdivision of the state.

(5) "Employee representative" means any attorney, physician, or employee organization that represents an employee or employees in a company.

(6) "Employer" includes an individual, partners, associations, corporations, business trusts, or any persons or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.

(7) "Expose" or "exposure" means any situation arising from work operation where an employee may ingest, inhale, absorb through the skin or eyes, or otherwise come into contact with a designated substance; provided, that the contact is not deemed to constitute exposure if the designated substance present is in a physical state, volume, or concentration for which there is no valid and substantial evidence that any adverse acute or chronic risk to human health may occur from the contact.

(8) "Hazardous substance" is any chemical substance listed in the latest edition of the chemical data section of the "Fire Protection Guide on Hazardous Materials" as published by the National Fire Protection Association.

(9) "Immediate use" means the hazardous substance will be under the control of and used only by the person who transfers it from a labeled container and only within the work shift in which it is transferred.

(10) "Mixture" means any solution or intimate admixture of two (2) or more substances which do not react chemically with each other.

(11) "Substance" means any element, entity, compound, combination, or any mixture of them, whether organic or inorganic.

(12) "To store" means to deposit or place a substance in a locale for a period of forty-eight (48) hours or more.

(13) "Toxic substance" is any chemical substance listed in the latest edition of "Threshold Limit Value for Chemical Substance in the Work Environment" as published by the American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists and the list of carcinogens as published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

(14) "Work area" means any room or defined space, whether within or outside of a building or other structure, where toxic or hazardous substances are present.

(15) "Workplace" means an establishment or business at one geographic location containing one or more work areas.

(i) The common and trade names of all designated substances present in the workplace in alphabetical order, cross referenced to their chemical names;

(ii) For mixtures, the list shall contain the chemical and/or trade names of any mixture that contains designated substances present in amounts greater than one percent (1%) of a volume of more than two (2) gallons or ten (10) pounds within the workplace except in the case of carcinogens, mutagen, or teratogen which shall be reported if they are present in amounts of one part per ten thousand (10,000) by volume or greater; and, provided, that nothing contained in this subdivision precludes the director of labor and training from establishing more stringent standards pursuant to rules and regulations in conformity with the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42.

(2) The chemical identification list shall include the individual designated substances present in the mixture except as provided in § 28-21-10.

(b) Each employer shall obtain a material safety data sheet for each designated substance or mixture containing the designated substance that must conform to the federal occupational safety and health administration regulations on preparing material safety data sheets, 29 CFR 1910.1200(g).

(c) Upon being advised by an employer that the employer has made efforts to obtain material safety data sheets or other information necessary to determine whether a substance which is in the employer's workplace is, may be, or may contain a designated substance, which efforts are documented and include, but are not limited to, a certified letter to the manufacturer, supplier, and/or distributor of the substance, and which efforts have resulted in failure to obtain the necessary information, the employer shall advise the department of labor and training of the failure within forty-five (45) days of the date the information was originally requested by the employer. The department of labor and training shall make demand of the manufacturer for the requested information, and shall notify the manufacturer that the manufacturer will be prohibited from selling or distributing the substance to any employer in Rhode Island unless the manufacturer supplies the information within ninety (90) days from the date the employer first requested the information. In the case of a mixture, the department of labor and training shall grant a variance to the employer which shall extend the above time period to one hundred eighty (180) days. The department of labor and training will make every effort to assist the employer in obtaining the necessary information. Until the necessary information is forthcoming from the manufacturer or otherwise obtained, the employer shall treat the mixture for which it has not received or developed the necessary information as a designated substance, until proven otherwise, and will protect employees accordingly, which protection shall include the listing of the mixture as a designated substance.

(d) Each employer covered by this chapter shall submit annually to the department of labor and training:

(1) An updated chemical identification list;

(2) Documentation detailing the nature of training provided employees as called for in § 28-21-9 of this chapter. The documentation shall be in a standardized form determined by the department.

(1) A list of work areas, sufficiently identified by name and location, where designated substances are present, containing the chemical and common name of each substance regularly present;

(2) Upon request, material safety data sheets for each hazardous or toxic substance included in this list.

(b) The person responsible for the administration and direction of a fire department in a fire district or municipality, including a fire chief or fire administrator or that person's designee, shall maintain the information provided by the employer under subsection (a) and shall provide copies of this information:

(1) To fire suppression and fire inspection divisions within the same jurisdiction; and

(2) Upon request, to any fire department employee or an employee representative of a fire department employee.

(c) Currently conducted fire safety inspections may include, at the discretion of the fire chief or the inspector, compliance with the employer notice requirements of this chapter as enumerated in § 28-21-3(a).

(1) Refusing to work. If an employee has requested from his or her employer information about a designated substance or mixture, either in the form of material safety data sheets or the chemical identification list as defined in § 28-21-1, and has not received this information from the employer within three (3) working days not including weekends or holidays of the date of the request, the employee may then refuse to work with or be exposed to the designated substance or mixture. Notwithstanding the above provision, if the employer has invoked and complied with the procedures set forth in § 28-21-3(c), the time period of three (3) working days, not including weekends or holidays, shall be extended to equal any time period provided to the manufacturer or employer under § 28-21-3(c), or until the information has been received by the employer, whichever is sooner.

(2) Discipline, discrimination prohibited. An employer may not discharge or otherwise discipline or discriminate against any employee because the employee has exercised his or her right under § 28-21-6 and/or this section, or has testified or is about to testify in any proceeding related to this chapter.

(3) Waivers prohibited. An employer may not request or require any employee to waive any rights under this chapter.

(4) Remedies and complaint procedure for employees. Any employee who has been discharged, disciplined, or otherwise discriminated against by any employer in violation of this chapter may, within one hundred eighty (180) days after the violation occurs or ninety (90) days after the employee first obtains knowledge that a violation has occurred, commence an action in any appropriate court of law alleging wrongful dismissal in violation of this chapter.

(ii) In addition to, but not in lieu of, the action in subdivision (4)(i), any employee may commence any action in any appropriate court of law to enforce any obligation, duty, or responsibility imposed upon him or her or the employer under this chapter

(b) The employer shall provide additional instruction whenever the employee may be routinely exposed to additional designated substances or which requires special precautions or whenever the employee's potential for exposure is increased. Training shall include, but not be limited to: the nature of the hazards, appropriate work practices, protective measures, and emergency procedures. Training shall be based upon information contained on the material safety data sheets, and any additional information that the employer may have access to.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, an employer is not required to provide training and education as provided in subsection (a) to the employees of any subcontractor of the employer. However, before any employees of any subcontractor commence work on the premises of, or at the direction of, an employer, the employer shall provide to the subcontractor those chemical identification lists and material safety data sheets to which the subcontractor's employees may be exposed. In addition, the employer shall provide to the subcontractor the lists and data sheets for any new designated substance which is introduced by the employer to which employees of the subcontractor may be exposed prior to the exposure. It shall be the responsibility of the subcontractor to train its employees with regard to these substances, and otherwise comply with its obligations under this chapter, as with any other designated substance to which its employees may be exposed.

(2) In addition, before any subcontractor commences work on the premises of, or in contact with employees of, any other employer, the subcontractor shall supply to the employer chemical information lists and material safety data sheets called for by this chapter for any designated substances which the subcontractor shall use on the employer's premises or in contact with employees of the employer. The subcontractor shall then provide the lists and data sheets for any new designated substance which is introduced by the subcontractor to which employees of the employer may be exposed prior to the exposure. The employer shall then train its employees with regard to these substances, and otherwise comply with its obligations under this chapter, as with any other designated substance to which its employees may be exposed.

(d) Employers shall have in writing an outline of the Right-to-Know training program, including how the employer will inform workers of chemical hazards, nature of protective measures adopted for workers' protection, nature of the Rhode Island Right-to-Know law, and how labeling, lists and the MSDS program works. The employer, upon request, shall make copies of the Right-to-Know program available to employees, employee representatives, treating physicians, the local fire department, and the department of labor and training.

(1) The manufacturer or employer can substantiate to the department of labor and training that it is a trade secret;

(2) The chemical is not a carcinogen, mutagen, or teratogen as published in OSHA regulations;

(3) The chemical is identified by a generic chemical classification which would provide useful information to a health professional;

(4) All other information on the properties and effects of the chemical required by this chapter is contained in the material safety data sheet;

(5) The material safety data sheet indicates which category of information is being withheld on trade secret grounds; and

(6) In any event, the withheld information is provided on a confidential basis to a treating physician who states in writing, except in an emergency situation, that a patient's health problems may be the result of occupational exposure. A statement to this effect with the name of the manufacturer and an emergency telephone number shall be included in the material safety data sheet.

(b) "Trade secrets", for the purpose of this section, means any formula, plan, pattern, process, production data, information, or compilation of information which is not patented, which is known only to an employer and certain other individuals, and which is used in the fabrication and production of an article of trade or service, and which gives the employer possessing it a business advantage over competitors who do not possess it.

(b) This chapter does not apply to hazardous or toxic substances being developed or used only in laboratories; "laboratories" includes all laboratories except those laboratories that provide quality control or other support to a manufacturing process or laboratories that produce products for commercial purposes; provided, that:

(i) The employer ensures that labels on incoming containers of hazardous or toxic chemicals are not removed or defaced;

(ii) The employer maintains any material safety data sheets or other pertinent data for incoming shipments of hazardous or toxic chemicals and ensures that they are readily accessible to laboratory employees; and

(iii) The employer shall ensure that laboratory employees are apprised of the hazards of the chemicals in their workplace in accordance with subdivision (b)(2).

(2) Employers shall provide all laboratory employees including support personnel and students, with information and training on hazardous and toxic substances in their work area at the time of their initial assignment and whenever a new hazard is introduced into their work area.

(ii) New chemicals being developed in research activities are exempt from the requirements of this subsection.

(iii) Employees shall be informed of:

(A) The requirements of this section.

(B) Any operations in their work area where hazardous and toxic chemicals are present.

(C) The location and availability of material safety data sheets and other written sources of chemical hazard information.

(iv) Employee training shall include at least:

(A) Methods and observations that may be used to detect the presence or release of a hazardous or toxic substance in the work area, such as monitoring conducted by the employer, continuous monitoring devices, visual appearance or odor of hazardous or toxic chemicals when being released, etc.;

(B) The physical and health hazards of the substances in the work area;

(C) The measures employees can take to protect themselves from these hazards, including specific procedures the employer has implemented to protect employees from exposure to hazardous or toxic substances, such as appropriate work practices, emergency procedures, and personal protective equipment to be used.

(3) Employers shall provide to the person responsible for the administration and direction of a fire department in a fire district or municipality, including a fire chief or fire administrator or that person's designee:

(i) A list of storage areas, sufficiently identified by name and location, where hazardous and toxic substances in unit quantities greater than two (2) gallons or ten (10) pounds are stored, including a full description of the types of hazards present on a generic basis rather than for each individual material.

(ii) The person responsible for the administration and direction of a fire department in a fire district or municipality, including a fire chief or fire administrator or that person's designee, shall maintain the information provided by the employer under subdivision (b)(3)(i) and shall provide copies of this information:

(A) To fire suppression and fire inspection divisions within the same jurisdiction;

(B) Upon request, to any fire department employee or an employee representative of a fire department employee; and

(C) In the event of emergency, a full list of substances present and involved in the incident shall be made available to fire personnel within forty-eight (48) hours subsequent to the emergency.

(c) This chapter does not apply to any designated substances being transported by truck where the substances are regulated by the United States department of transportation under rules and regulations on hazardous and dangerous substances as contained in 49 CFR. Compliance with the regulations shall be deemed to satisfy the listing, training, and labelling requirements of this chapter for those employees engaged in the actual transporting of the substance.

(2) For the purposes of this subsection, transport means only the actual hauling of manifested products in marked containers.

(d) This chapter does not apply to exposure to any materials removed in actual trash collection. This exclusion shall not apply to substances used in the processing of these waste products.

(b) Upon the finding of a violation arising from an inspection, the employer shall inform the employees and immediately undertake measures for the safety of the employees. The employer shall have ninety (90) days from the date of the finding of a violation to comply with the remaining provisions of this chapter.

(c) The department shall obtain any and all information required by § 28-21-5 from the person responsible for the administration and direction of a fire department in a fire district or municipality, including a fire chief or fire administrator or that person's designee, in the event that an employer ceases to do business in the state. The department will keep the information for thirty (30) years and will make the information available, upon request, to employees as defined in § 28-21-2(4).

(d) In addition to and not in lieu of the legal remedies available to the employee under § 28-21-8(4), the department may order an employer to reinstate an employee who was dismissed or disciplined for exercising the right to refuse work as defined in § 28-21-8(1). In addition, the department may order an employer to reimburse an employee for any monetary losses, plus interest, resulting from the employee's dismissal or discipline. Upon notification from the department, an employer has five (5) business days to show cause why the employer should not comply with the department's order.

(b) The director of labor and training may contract with qualified agencies and/or parties for technical services performed in conjunction with this chapter.

(c) The director of labor and training shall exempt from this chapter all employers whose contact with the designated substances is limited entirely to copier machine powders or liquids where the exposure is incidental to the business operation.

(d) Any employer who contests the determination of the director may appeal the determination under the provisions set forth in §§ 28-20-19 and 28-20-20.

(b) The employer shall ensure that each container of designated substances in the workplace as listed in § 28-21-3 is labeled, tagged, or marked with the following information:

(1) Identity of the designated substance; and

(2) Hazard warnings.

(d) When stationary containers in a work area have similar contents and hazards, the employer may post signs or placards to convey the required information rather than affixing labels to each individual container.

(d) The employer shall ensure that each container of designated substance present or leaving the workplace is labeled, tagged, or marked with the following information:

(i) Identity of the designated substance;

(ii) Hazard warnings; and

(iii) Name and address of the manufacturer or other responsible party who can provide additional information on the designated substance and appropriate emergency procedures, if necessary.

(2) There shall be no conflict with the requirements of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq., and regulations issued under that act by the department of transportation.

(e) The employer need not affix new labels to comply with this section if existing labels already convey the necessary information.

(f) The employer is not required to label portable containers into which designated substances are transferred from labeled containers, and which are intended only for the immediate use of the employee who performs the transfer.

(g) The employer shall not remove or deface existing labels on incoming containers of designated substances unless the container is immediately marked with the required information.

(b) The commission consists of seventeen (17) members, three (3) from the house of representatives, not more than two (2) from the same political party, to be appointed by the speaker to serve for their legislative term; two (2) are from the senate, one from each political party, to be appointed by the majority leader of the senate to serve for his or her legislative term; two (2) representatives of labor, two (2) representatives of business, one member from the department of health, one member from the department of labor and training, four (4) members from the public, one member from the medical profession, and one member from the jewelry industry, all of whom are appointed by the speaker, to serve for terms of three (3) years.

(c) During the month of February every year, the speaker shall appoint a member to succeed the members whose term will then next expire, to serve for a term of three (3) years commencing on the first day of March then next following, and until his or her successor is appointed and qualified.

(d) A member shall be eligible to succeed himself or herself.

(e) A vacancy, other than by expiration, shall be filled in the same manner as an original appointment, but only for the unexpired portion of the term.

(f) The speaker shall select a chairperson from among the membership of the commission to serve at the pleasure of the speaker.

(g) The membership of the commission shall receive no compensation for their services.

(h) All departments and agencies of the state furnish any advice and information, documentary and otherwise, to the commission and its agents that is deemed necessary or desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this section.

(i) The speaker of the house is authorized and directed to provide suitable quarters for the commission.