Sec. 820.3. Notice and information requirements

(a) Where any provision of Labor Law, article 28 or these regulations requires an employer to provide employees with notice or information relating to a toxic substance, said notice or information need not be provided to a former employee employed after the effective date of Labor Law, article 28, or an employee on indefinite lay-off if the toxic substance was not introduced into the workplace until after the employee ceased working for the employer at that workplace. However, if a former employee employed after the effective date of Labor Law, article 28, or an employee on indefinite lay-off requests information pursuant to Labor Law, sections 876(7) and 880(1), about a toxic substance that was not present in the workplace at any time that the employee was employed there, then the employer shall so advise the employee in writing.

(b) The sign required by Labor Law, section 876(1), shall conform substantially to the dimensions, format and type size of those produced by or available from the New York State Department of Health, or shall otherwise be legible and conspicuous, and shall be posted conspicuously on employee bulletin boards or in other similar places, so as to ensure that the signs will be readily seen by employees. If a substantial number of the employees in the workplace speak a language other than English as their primary language and cannot understand a sign in English, then a sign must be posted in that language or languages as well as in English.

(c) The information required to be made available to employees and their representatives under Labor Law, sections 876 and 880, shall be communicated in a manner comprehensible to the employees to whom it is directed, shall be current, and must be updated in connection with the annual training required by Labor Law, section 878. The employer shall advise the employees or their representatives of the source(s) consulted in order to obtain this information. If a substantial number of the employees speak a language other than English as their primary language, and cannot understand this information in English, and any of this information is available in such other language, then the employer shall communicate such information to the employees in that language as well as in English.

(d) The information required to be made available to employees and their representatives under Labor Law, section 876, includes information about any toxic substance known to be present in a mixture, provided that either:

(1) the substance comprises, as an intentional ingredient or as an impurity, one percent or more by weight of the mixture; or

(2) even if the substance is present only in trace amounts in the mixture, the toxic properties of the substance are such that the mixture may be hazardous upon exposure because of the presence of the substance. An example of this situation would be the presence of 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in the herbicide 2, 4, 5-T.

(e) The information required to be made available to employees and their representatives under Labor Law, section 876(2), shall be maintained in a place readily accessible to employees.

(f) Copies of the information required to be made available to employees and their representatives under Labor Law, section 876(2), shall be provided to them upon request and without charge or condition, unless:

(1) the number of pages encompassed within any one request is greater than 200, in which case the employer shall have the option of charging the actual cost of copying the information in excess of 200 pages or permitting examination of any pages in excess of 200 during regular working hours, with no loss of pay, in a location convenient to the job site of the requestor or, if the requestor is an employee representative, the employees he or she represents; or

(2) the information requested has been supplied in written form to the requestor within a one-year period prior to the request, in which case the employer may either:

(i) loan the information to the requestor; or

(ii) make the information available for inspection or copying in a location convenient to the job site of the requestor or, if the requestor is an employee representative, the employees he or she represents, but need not do so during regular working hours or without loss of pay to the requestor.

(g) Where an employee or a representative of one or more employees has not received information required to be made available within the time required by Labor Law, section 876(7), the employee(s) may not be required to handle, use or remain in risk of exposure to the toxic substance until the information is provided by the employer.

(h)

(1) If information is requested pursuant to Labor Law, section 876(7) or section 880(1), about a substance which is neither a toxic substance nor comprised of any toxic substance, or with regard to which no information is available, then the employer shall respond in writing, state that the substance is not toxic or that no information about the substance is available, and identify the source(s) upon which such statement is based.

(2) An employer may not state that a substance is not toxic or that no information about the substance is available without first:

(i) obtaining a material safety data sheet (“MSDS”) or chemical data sheet for that substance;

(ii) obtaining a fact sheet about that substance from the New York State Department of Health; or

(iii) consulting the sources listed in Labor Law, section 876(3).

(i)

(1) An employer may comply with the requirements of Labor Law, sections 876(7) and 880(1), and these regulations by:

(i) describing the location of each toxic substance in the workplace;

(ii) making available an MSDS or a chemical data sheet prepared by the New York State Department of Health for each such toxic substance, provided that the MSDS or chemical data sheet contains all of the information required by Labor Law, article 28, and these regulations; and

(iii) advising the employee(s) or employee representative who requested the information that future research may render the information obsolete or incomplete.

(2) If an MSDS or chemical data sheet provided by an employer does not contain all of the information required by Labor Law, article 28, and these regulations, then the employer shall provide the required supplemental information by consulting the sources listed in Labor Law, section 876(3).

(j) Whenever an employer receives new information about any toxic substance in the workplace concerning those subjects listed in Labor Law, section 876(4), it shall upon receipt thereof provide employees and, if so requested, their representatives with such information.