The “right-to-know” law Hazardous materials are an important
part of our standard of living. We live around and work with
many products each day. However, accidents also occur and upon
their release, they may cause harm to people, property, and the
environment, and may disrupt critical activities in our lives.
Reed College has over 7000 hazardous substances on campus.
Examples include gasoline and sulfuric acid in our cars, toxic
mushroom extracts and bacteria in laboratories, ionizing
radiation in the nuclear reactor, and many, many others
everywhere. Oregon Occupational Health and Safety Code, OAR
Chapter 437, Division 2 Subdivision Z Hazard Communication, is
called the “right-to-know law.” It requires that we know and
understand important up-to-date safety information about
potentially hazardous substances to which employees and others
could be exposed. The manufacturers of these potentially
hazardous substances must provide users with material safety
data sheets (MSDSs) for each substance. These sheets te