The Importance of Chemical Hygiene Plans in School Districts

Why The Importance of Chemical Hygiene Plans in School Districts? I am often surprised by the lack of awareness in safety concerns across elementary, middle, and high school science and STEM programs regarding the cavalier attitude towards chemicals and the special considerations necessary for safety compliance.  This is a result of many false assumptions, and I am not the first, nor will I be the last safety advocate to bring some attention to this growing concern in our school science chemical storerooms.  According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, a common misconception among administrators and faculty members is that these type of accidents (e.g., eye injuries, lacerations, amputations, and other permanent injuries resulting from STEM education classroom and laboratory activities) will not happen to them and will not happen at their school.

The recent chemistry accident involving methanol occurred at Dinwiddie High School in October 2022, resulted in tragedy for the teacher, students, and the school district.  There was an under-appreciation of the hazards associated with this specific chemical (methanol) and multiple failures from a duty of care perspective based on the details provided thus far.  This was a preventable accident that could have been avoided, and the Chemical Hygiene Officer with a recent and robust Chemical Hygiene Plan could have provided the safety awareness and safety education and training necessary to perform a hazard analysis prior to the activity.   Some superintendents are now asking about their own chemical hygiene plans for their schools as a result of this event in Virginia.  Having increased awareness of the documentation and required training and annual filing requirements is beneficial to everyone in the school district ecosystem.

Schools across the country are expected to have a Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) in place in OSHA governed states, and an Environmental Hygiene Plan (EHP) in place in non-OSHA governed states.  These documents are very important and are a mandated regulatory requirement for the employer (school district) to manage, review, edit, and are created as a mechanism to communicate chemical hygiene protocols specifically for the schools in each jurisdiction, including standard operating procedures, emergency management protocols, and chemical waste management to name a handful of the requisite functions of this important document.

According to the National Science Teaching Association, the National Science Education Leadership Association, The Council of State Science Supervisors, the American Chemical Society, OSHA and NIOSH, ‘Academic science laboratories can be unsafe places for teaching and learning due to risks associated with biological, chemical, and physical hazards’.  If you have ever been in a science department with apparatus, equipment, chemicals related materials, you will agree with this statement.  This applies to schools offering hands-on, comprehensive K-12 science programs since there are physical laboratory facilities and hazardous chemicals on-site.  According to current case law and a thorough understanding of risk management protocols in school districts, we know that there are legal liability concerns associated with teaching science and STEM, especially when negligence or recklessness is involved.  This is a separate and important conversation as it relates to the overall chemical hygiene program in each jurisdiction.   

What you need to know about Chemical Hygiene Plans

The OSHA Laboratory Standard (CFR 1910.1945) requires the development and implementation of a formal, written, and employee-accessible program, referred to as a Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP). This plan, as defined by OSHA, must be “capable of protecting employees from health hazards associated with hazardous chemicals used in the laboratory.”  Here is some important background information for the school district Directors of Education, Superintendents, and Chemical Hygiene Officers which is applicable to their role and responsibility for occupational health and safety.  The OSHA Laboratory Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450) requires that all school district employees working in laboratory settings (including special education teachers and paraprofessionals) undergo safety training before they enter the lab. This is to ensure employees are made aware of the hazards and how to effectively work safely with the chemicals and their hazards in the science department. 

According to the OSHA Lab Standard, this formalized safety training must occur when new teachers are hired or when teachers are given a new assignment (new subject area or grade level) when these new environments involve the use of chemicals or potentially exposure to chemical hazards during the regular course of their job function.  The law is clear: All employees must be provided with current and relevant information and training specifically related to the physical and health hazards of chemicals present in their laboratory.  This means that when teachers are hired, they should be trained in safety based on legal, safer, professional standards that are grade-level and subject-specific.  So, does that mean that if you were trained ten years ago, that you are considered ‘safety trained and compliant’?  Many employers (school districts) under the OSHA Lab Standard can determine a schedule or frequency for safety training updates or ‘refresher course training’ in consultations with their Chemical Hygiene Officer and the Legal or Risk Management Officer at the school district.  Many school districts have annual teacher compliance training and require an additional specific science or STEM safety training on a recurring annual ‘safety refresher’ course for teachers to keep them updated on safety practices and procedures.  This is a commonly used better professional practice in science and STEM education nationally and a federally mandated OSHA requirement for training.

With regard to the expectations and legal implications for newly hired teachers and those who have started a new position or teaching assignment, the employer (school district) has a duty to firstly inform workers of the following safety items:

• the content of the OSHA Laboratory standard and its appendices (the full text must be made available);
  • the location and availability of the Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP); (Environmental Hygiene Plan in non-OSHA governed states)
  • provide employees with information pertaining to permissible exposure limits (PELs) for OSHA-regulated substances or recommended exposure
  • provide employees with the acceptable levels for other hazardous chemicals where there is no applicable standard;
  • provide employees with background information regarding signs and symptoms associated with exposure to hazardous chemicals in the laboratory;
  • the location and availability of reference materials on the hazards, safe handling, storage and disposal of hazardous chemicals in the laboratory, including safety data sheets.

Secondly, OSHA requires the employer provide the following safety training topics specific to the safer handling of chemicals in the science department:

• methods and observations used to detect the presence or release of a hazardous chemical (e.g., employer monitoring, continuous monitoring devices, and familiarity with the appearance and odor of the chemicals);
  • the physical and health hazards of chemicals in the laboratory work area;
  • the measures that workers can take to protect themselves from these hazards, including protective equipment, appropriate work practices, and emergency procedures;
  • applicable details of the employer’s written CHP; and
  • retraining, if necessary.

Here is the on-going legal requirement under the Lab Standard as it applies to the school district in order to be compliant with regulatory expectations. The employer (school district) is required to evaluate the effectiveness of the CHP annually and update it as necessary. It would be prudent to also do refresher training on the CHP for employees using the same schedule. An alternative is to provide additional training each month at department meetings.  However, as the NSTA makes known that you need to be aware that in certain state jurisdictions, public employers are not covered under OSHA and may not have to comply with this standard.  However, better professional practice advocates the lab standard’s components in all public and private school science labs; e.g. chemical hygiene officer, chemical training, etc.  Based on the accidents and injuries that are still occurring in our school science and STEM departments, it is a prudent practice to apply these stringent safer practices even if there is no legal requirement, seeing that every person in a school district is directly or indirectly accountable for maintaining a safe learning and teaching environment.   

Inconsistency is a real problem for school districts 

From my experiences working with small, moderate, and larger school districts across the country, there is one word that can be used to encapsulate the implementation of the chemical hygiene plan.  Inconsistency.  I am using this word based on the differing levels of understanding and appreciation for the innate value of a chemical hygiene plan as it relates to increasing the level of safety awareness across the school district.  While many superintendents and directors of education can appreciate the legal aspects of the CHP, and ideally having a designated Chemical Hygiene Officer manage the safety program for science and STEM programs in schools, yet many administrators do not understand the true legal aspects of this critically important document.  Let me be clear: If there is not a designated Chemical Hygiene Officer in your school district, that responsibility automatically becomes the responsibility of the superintendent, regardless of their education, experience, training or exposure to chemical hygiene practices and procedures.  This is real.  And frightening.  And makes the Superintendent legally liable and accountable. This illustrates one of the multiple reasons that there is a culture of inconsistency across the nation when looking at the chemical hygiene plan and its management for the teachers and staff in the school district.  Inconsistency breeds accidents and injuries.

Chemical Hygiene Officer Accountability

School districts need to have a Chemical Hygiene Plan in place with all the previously mentioned criteria and components, and the site-specific standard operating procedures for the unique equipment, apparatus, materials, and chemicals in the schools located in each local region.  This unique localized CHP is connected to the EPA and local municipal or county fire marshal guidance and wastewater pollution control thresholds for safer disposal practices for chemical wastes generated on-site in school buildings.  Through the knowledge, interpretation and experience of the Chemical Hygiene Officer, the school district can implement the CHP as part of the legal, safer, and professional standards and connect this to their overall risk management program covering activities involving chemicals in school laboratories.  Remember that non-OSHA states are governed by a similar Environmental Hygiene Plan that accounts for chemical safety for products in school science departments.   

The responsibilities of this position require the District Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO) to:

• Develop and implement the Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) and the safety program for the district, including professional development and safety training, reporting, and other functions noted here;
• Ensure that employees have received appropriate safety training that is grade and discipline-specific to the courses being taught and has been properly documented for insurance and liability purposes;
• Ensure that employees have access to the Chemical Hygiene Plan, SDS (safety data sheets) and other suitable reference materials in order to provide a safer teaching and learning environment;
• Work with administrators and teachers to develop and implement the district approved safety program and make adjustments as necessary based on an abundance of safety and risk mitigation;
• Monitor the procurement, use, and disposal of chemicals used in the schools’ science and STEM laboratory programs. This can include creation of a ‘banned’ or an ‘approved’ chemical listing;
• Assure that inspections of equipment and space in the laboratory are performed when appropriate and that accurate records of OH&S physical inspections are maintained;
• Provide technical assistance to schools and employees on the Chemical Hygiene Plan based on legal and professional standards found in OSHA, NFPA, NIOSH, and others; (see reference links below)
• Assure that the Chemical Hygiene Plan is reviewed at least annually and revised as needed, so that it is always in compliance with current legal requirements and safer, professional standards-based practices;
• Make decisions regarding requests to use chemicals identified as explosive, carcinogenic, mutagenic, highly toxic, or otherwise unsuitable for general school laboratories;
• Determine the need for personal protective equipment beyond that specified for general laboratory use based on the activities being performed and ensuring that there is PPE for all individuals in the lab;
• Implement appropriate training with regard to chemical hygiene for all district employees whose normal work locations include laboratory areas;
• Provide regular, formal chemical hygiene and housekeeping inspections;
• Provide regular, formal inspections on safety infrastructure including eye wash stations, drench showers, fume hoods, ventilation systems, fire prevention equipment, and PPE supplies;
• Complete an annual physical inspection in each chemical store room and laboratory, prep area and facility in the science department and file this inspection document with OSHA before July 1 each year;
• Coordinate requests for acquisition, use or disposal of chemicals identified as explosive, carcinogenic, mutagenic, highly toxic, or otherwise unsuitable for general school laboratories;

Next Steps for Superintendents, Supervisors and Chemical Hygiene Officers

Now that you understand the importance of the Chemical (Environmental) Hygiene Plan and the designated person in the school district to manage the implementation, safety training, document reviews and on-site annual inspections, and the additional necessary legal aspects of the CHP, you should ask these three questions:

1. Is there a current CHP in the district?
2. Who is the designated Chemical Hygiene Officer?
3. How accountable do you feel for the chemical health and safety in your district?

The answers to these questions will help you determine what your next steps will be as you develop your risk management program and use the Chemical Hygiene Plan as the foundational component of the safety plan in the science and STEM programs in your district.  Please consult with your Science Supervisor, Chemical Hygiene Officer, School Science Department Heads, Facilities Directors, and professionals with a comprehensive understanding of chemical hygiene plans and the intent and impact these documents have on the overall safety program.  Many templates are available to help you develop a personalized CHP from trusted professional organizations or third-party vendors that can assist you to elevate the safety awareness and meet the regulatory compliance associated with the CHP or EHP in your area.  Bottom line is that ensuring that teachers have access to this annually reviewed, current, chemical safety document is extremely important to your risk mitigation and legal liability.