EMPLOYEE EDUCATION PROGRAM.

(a) An employer shall provide an education and training program for employees who use or handle hazardous chemicals.

(b) An employer shall develop, implement, and maintain at the workplace a written hazard communication program for the workplace that describes how the criteria specified in this chapter will be met.

(c) An education and training program must include, as appropriate:

(1) information on interpreting labels and SDSs and the relationship between those two methods of hazard communication;

(2) the location by work area, acute and chronic effects, and safe handling of hazardous chemicals known to be present in the employees' work area and to which the employees may be exposed;

(3) the proper use of protective equipment and first aid treatment to be used with respect to the hazardous chemicals to which the employees may be exposed; and

(4) general safety instructions on the handling, cleanup procedures, and disposal of hazardous chemicals.

(d) Training may be conducted by categories of chemicals. An employer must advise employees that information is available on the specific hazards of individual chemicals through the MSDSs. Protective equipment and first aid treatment may be by categories of hazardous chemicals.

(e) An employer shall provide additional instruction to an employee when the potential for exposure to hazardous chemicals in the employee's work area increases significantly or when the employer receives new and significant information concerning the hazards of a chemical in the employee's work area. The addition of new chemicals alone does not necessarily require additional training.

(f) An employer shall provide training to a new or newly assigned employee before the employee works with or in a work area containing a hazardous chemical.

(g) An employer shall keep the written hazard communication program and a record of each training session given to employees, including the date, a roster of the employees who attended, the subjects covered in the training session, and the names of the instructors. Those records shall be maintained for at least five years by the employer. The department shall have access to those records and may interview employees during inspections.

(h) Emergency service organizations shall provide, to their members or employees who may encounter hazardous chemicals during an emergency, information on recognizing, evaluating, and controlling exposure to the chemicals.

(i) As part of an outreach program created in accordance with Section 502.008, the department shall develop an education and training assistance program to assist employers who are unable to develop the programs because of size or other practical considerations. The program shall be made available to those employers on request.