(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Hazardous substances in the workplace in some forms and concentrations pose potential acute and chronic health hazards to employees who are exposed to these substances.
(2) Employers and employees have a right and a need to know the properties and potential hazards of substances to which they may be exposed, and such knowledge is essential to reducing the incidence and cost of occupational disease.
(3) Employers do not always have available adequate data on the contents and properties of specific hazardous substances necessary for the provision of a safe and healthful workplace and the provision of information and training to employees as is the responsibility of the employer under existing law.
(4) Many effective employee information and training programs now exist, and with the increased availability of basic information and with the extension of such programs to all affected employees, preventable health risks in the workplace would be further reduced.
(b) The Legislature, therefore, intends by this chapter to ensure the transmission of necessary information to employees regarding the properties and potential hazards of hazardous substances in the workplace.
(Added by Stats. 1980, Ch. 874.)