Getting started

An article stops being one when you use it

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The hazard communication standard excludes articles The first limb is about manufacture The second limb is about function and it describes this group exactly And then the third limb changes the kind of question being asked That is not a property of the object at all Which is the central fact about this group So no page here says whether any of these items is an article The rule itself uses a phrase that makes the same point And one exclusion elsewhere spells out the mechanism in a parenthesis Which is the clearest sentence in this library on the subject References

Under normal conditions of use. Which is a fact about a situation.

The hazard communication standard excludes articles

And then defines one in three limbs, which is worth reading as three separate tests rather than as a description.

The first limb is about manufacture

A manufactured item other than a fluid or particle, formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture. So a powder is out at the first limb and a casting is in.

The second limb is about function and it describes this group exactly

Which has end use functions dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use. A drill bit is nothing but a shape with a function, and so is a tap, a burr and a router bit.

And then the third limb changes the kind of question being asked

Which under normal conditions of use does not release more than very small quantities, for example minute or trace amounts, of a hazardous chemical, and does not pose a physical hazard or health risk to employees.

That is not a property of the object at all

It is a statement about what happens when somebody uses it. The same object satisfies the limb in one situation and fails it in another, and nothing about the object changed.

Which is the central fact about this group

Everything in it exists to remove material. A cutoff wheel in a jar is sitting still. The same wheel at speed is producing exactly what the third limb is about.

So no page here says whether any of these items is an article

That determination belongs to an employer considering a particular use, with knowledge nobody writing a packaging catalog has. The pages describe the test and decline the conclusion.

The rule itself uses a phrase that makes the same point

Paragraph (f)(4) refers to solid metal, solid wood, or plastic items that are not exempted as articles due to their downstream use. Downstream use. The exemption is contingent on what happens later.

And one exclusion elsewhere spells out the mechanism in a parenthesis

Wood is exempted where the only hazard is flammability or combustibility, and then the text adds that wood which may be subsequently sawed or cut, generating dust, is not exempted.

Which is the clearest sentence in this library on the subject

A material changes status because of an operation performed on it. This group is the collection of things that perform that operation, which is why this is its spine.

References

29 CFR 1910.1200(c), which defines: "Article means a manufactured item other than a fluid or particle: (i) Which is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture; (ii) Which has end use function(s) dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use; and (iii) Which under normal conditions of use does not release more than very small quantities, e.g., minute or trace amounts of a hazardous chemical (as determined under paragraph (d) of this section), and does not pose a physical hazard or health risk to employees." Paragraph (b)(6)(v) excludes articles from the section. Nothing on these pages determines whether any item is an article, because that turns on a particular use. law.cornell.edu

29 CFR 1910.1200(b)(6)(iv), which excludes "Wood or wood products, including lumber which will not be processed, where the chemical manufacturer or importer can establish that the only hazard they pose to employees is the potential for flammability or combustibility (wood or wood products which have been treated with a hazardous chemical covered by this standard, and wood which may be subsequently sawed or cut, generating dust, are not exempted)." And 1910.1200(f)(4)(i), which refers to "solid metal (such as a steel beam or a metal casting), solid wood, or plastic items that are not exempted as articles due to their downstream use". law.cornell.edu

Written from 29 CFR 1910.1200 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. That section is the Hazard Communication Standard and it governs the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals in the workplace; it does not govern bits, blades, wheels or collets, and nothing here says it does. Nothing here determines whether any item is an article under paragraph (c), because that turns on a particular use. No container on this shelf is described as rated for any chemical, fluid or dust, and nothing here is guidance about handling a tool, about dust exposure, about ventilation or about protective equipment. This shelf is a subset of the store-small-dry shelf and the sewing notions property enumerates that shelf.