What OSHA Requires the University to Provide In January of 1990, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a laboratory health standard requiring employers of laboratory employees to implement exposure control programs and convey chemical health and safety information to laboratory employees working with hazardous chemicals. This standard requires Yale to: Regularly evaluate laboratory control equipment and perform laboratory inspections Establish standard operating procedures for both routine and "high hazard" laboratory operations Implement research protocol safety reviews for procedures, activities, or operations which the employer believes to be of a sufficiently hazardous nature to warrant prior approval Perform employee exposure assessments Provide medical consultations/exams Provide employee training Label chemical containers Manage chemical safety information sheets (Material Safety Data Sheets) and other safety reference materials An appendix to the standard describes prudent practices for handling hazardous materials in the laboratory and provides a list of laboratory safety references.