Workplace safety and OSHA
Chemical Handling in Electronics Manufacturing
Solvents, fluxes, coatings and adhesives: store, dispense, protect yourself and respond when it goes wrong
Awareness · 1 hour · Certificate does not expire
Electronics assembly runs on chemicals: isopropyl alcohol and solvent cleaners, fluxes and solder paste, conformal coatings and their thinners, epoxies and adhesives. The quantities at each bench are small, but the bottles are open all day, the solvents are flammable and some of the resins are sensitizers that can cause permanent allergy. This course teaches you to handle them safely.
You will learn how bench chemicals enter the body, what a sensitizer is, and how OSHA permissible exposure limits in 29 CFR 1910.1000 compare with ACGIH threshold limit values. You will learn the flammable liquid categories, storage limits and point-of-use rules in 29 CFR 1910.106, how to dispense and bond, how to label secondary containers, and which bench tools are ignition sources. The final module covers the hierarchy of controls, ventilation for cleaning and coating, glove selection by permeation data, eyewash stations under 29 CFR 1910.151(c) and ANSI/ISEA Z358.1, spill response and chemical waste. Scenarios come from contract electronics, aerospace and medical device assembly.
The course pairs with the PlanetISO Hazard Communication and GHS course, which covers labels and safety data sheets in depth, and with Conformal Coating Awareness: IPC-CC-830, which covers coating processes and inspection.
What this course does not cover. It is general awareness training. Your employer must still provide hazard communication training on the chemicals in your own work area, a PPE hazard assessment and glove selection for your tasks, a respiratory protection program with medical evaluation and fit testing if respirators are needed, and hands-on instruction on your site's dispensers, spill kits, eyewash stations and emergency procedures. This course does not make anyone OSHA certified, and OSHA does not approve training providers. State-plan states may have additional requirements, and employers outside the US follow their own regulations.
The course closes with a 10-question examination drawn from a bank of 20. On passing you receive a PlanetISO Certificate of Completion for the online instruction, with lifetime access to the course. The certificate does not expire.
What people learn
- Identify the main chemical families used in electronics assembly and their typical hazards.
- Explain routes of entry and the difference between irritants and sensitizers.
- Compare OSHA permissible exposure limits in 29 CFR 1910.1000 with ACGIH TLVs and use them from an SDS.
- Apply the flammable liquid categories, storage limits and point-of-use rules of 29 CFR 1910.106 at the bench.
- Dispense, bond and label secondary containers correctly, and keep solvents away from ignition sources.
- Select gloves using permeation data, use an eyewash correctly, and respond appropriately to small and large spills.