On June 24, 2025, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will conduct a virtual public meeting to discuss the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The primary focus of this meeting is to gather stakeholder input and prepare for the upcoming forty-eighth session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Sub-Committee of Experts on the GHS, which will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from July 7 to July 9, 2025.

OSHA is expected to provide updates on recent regulatory activities, discuss potential changes to the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to align with the latest GHS revisions, and solicit feedback from industry representatives, labor organizations, and other interested parties. Key topics will include hazard classification, labelling requirements, safety data sheets, and the impact of GHS updates on U.S. regulations and workplace safety.

Quick Hits

• On June 24, 2025, OSHA will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss updates to the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and gather stakeholder input.
• The upcoming meeting of the United Nations’ Sub-Committee on the GHS will be a key forum for discussing and adopting revisions to the GHS, which OSHA will later evaluate and incorporate into U.S. regulations.
• OSHA aims to improve chemical hazard communication and facilitate international trade by aligning U.S. regulations with the latest GHS updates, ensuring clarity and consistency for workers and emergency responders.

OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard is explicitly designed to align with the GHS, which is an internationally agreed-upon system for classifying and labelling chemicals. The GHS is periodically revised and updated by the U.N. Sub-Committee based on new scientific information, stakeholder input, and evolving best practices. The July 7–9, 2025, Geneva, Switzerland, meeting is one of the key forums where such revisions are discussed and adopted by consensus among participating countries, including the United States.

When the Sub-Committee adopts new or revised criteria, label elements, or safety data sheet (SDS) requirements, OSHA reviews these changes to determine how best to incorporate them into U.S. regulations. This process ensures that U.S. chemical safety standards remain harmonized with those of major trading partners and reflect the latest scientific and technical knowledge.

Following the Geneva meeting, OSHA is expected to evaluate the adopted GHS revisions and initiate the rulemaking process to update the HCS as necessary. This may include:

• revising hazard classification criteria for physical, health, or environmental hazards;
• updating required label elements, such as signal words, pictograms, hazard statements, and precautionary statements;
• modifying the format and content requirements for safety data sheets and
• addressing new or emerging hazards identified at the international level.

For example, OSHA’s most recent update to the HCS (finalized in 2024) was based on the seventh revised edition of the GHS, with select elements from the eighth edition. This update was informed by previous UN GHS sub-committee meetings and reflects the ongoing process of international harmonization.

After the Geneva meeting, OSHA is expected to engage with U.S. stakeholders—including industry representatives, labor organizations, and safety professionals—to gather input on how the new GHS provisions should be implemented domestically. OSHA relies on the stakeholders’ input to update regulations that are designed to be practical, effective, and tailored to the needs of U.S. workplaces.

OSHA also provides transition periods for compliance, allowing chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors, and employers time to update their hazard communication programs, labels, and SDSs in accordance with the new requirements.

By incorporating the outcomes of the Geneva meeting into U.S. regulations, OSHA aims to:

• improve the clarity, consistency, and effectiveness of chemical hazard communication for workers and emergency responders;
• reduce confusion and compliance burdens for companies operating in multiple countries; and
• facilitate international trade by ensuring that U.S. chemical products meet global labelling and classification standards.

Employers that work with materials that fall under GHS probably will not see dramatic changes in the regulations they must abide by. Instead, those changes will likely be incremental and will first be seen by those that bear the responsibility for labelling chemicals.