Your employer should train you on the chemical hazards before you start working in your new position or performing the new tasks, not after you’ve already begun.

Why the timing matters

  • Regulations on hazard communication (such as OSHA’s HazCom rules in the U.S.) require that employees receive information and training on hazardous chemicals at the time of their initial assignment and whenever new chemical hazards are introduced into their work area, which includes a transfer to a different part of the site with different chemicals.
  • This training must occur before you are exposed to the new chemical hazards, meaning before you actually begin the new work duties involving those substances.

In simple terms

If you move to a new area with different chemicals or different ways of using chemicals, your employer should provide hazard training ahead of time , so you know:

  • What the chemicals are and what they can do (health and physical hazards).
  • How to read labels and Safety Data Sheets (SDSs).
  • What protective equipment and safe handling procedures you must use.

So, for the multiple‑choice style wording of your question, the correct choice is:

Before you start working in your new position.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.