Approvals & Publishing

Your HazCom plan is a formal company document. Before it becomes official, it goes through a structured approval process to make sure the right people have reviewed it. Once approved, publishing makes the plan active and visible to all employees at the site.

For: Admin, Coordinator, Manager | Tier: Standard+

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Approval Workflow

The approval process ensures that qualified personnel review your plan before it becomes the official company document.

Status Flow

Step	Status	What Happens
1	Draft	The plan author creates and edits the plan. Questionnaire answers and generated content can be modified freely.
2	Pending Approval	The author clicks Submit for Approval. The plan is locked from editing and enters the review queue.
3a	Approved	A reviewer approves the plan, optionally adding notes. The plan is ready to publish.
3b	Draft (rejected)	A reviewer rejects the plan with a required reason. The plan returns to Draft for the author to revise and re-submit.
4	Active	An authorized user publishes the approved plan. It becomes the current plan for the site.
5	Archived	When a new version is published, the previous active plan is automatically archived.

Key Rules

• Only Draft plans can be edited. Once submitted, the plan content is locked until the reviewer returns it.
• Rejection requires a reason. The reviewer must explain what needs to change. This reason is preserved in the audit trail and visible to the plan author.
• Approval notes are optional. Reviewers can add comments when approving (e.g., "Looks good, but review Section 5 before next annual review").
• One active plan per site. Publishing always replaces the current active plan. The old plan is archived automatically.

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Who Can Approve

Plan approval requires the hazcom:plans:approve permission. By default, these roles have it:

Role	Can Approve
Admin	Yes
Program Coordinator	Yes
Manager	Yes
Employee	No

If your organization uses custom roles, check your role configuration in Users & Roles to see who has approval permissions.

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What Reviewers Should Check

When reviewing a plan for approval, verify:

1. Completeness -- All 7 sections are filled out with accurate information
2. Coordinator accuracy -- The named coordinator is actually designated for this role
3. Inventory match -- The plan reflects the current chemical inventory
4. SDS procedures -- The described access method actually works (can workers reach SDSs during all shifts?)
5. Training accuracy -- The training procedures described match what actually happens
6. Contractor procedures -- If contractors work on-site, the coordination procedures are real and workable
7. Site specificity -- The plan is tailored to this specific site, not a generic template

See Review and Approve a Plan for step-by-step instructions.

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Publishing

Once a plan is approved, any user with edit permission can publish it.

What publishing does:

• Changes the plan status from Approved to Active
• Archives the previously active plan for the site (if one exists)
• Sets the effective date to today
• Sets the next review date to 365 days from today
• Makes the plan visible to all employees via the View Plan tab
• Locks the plan from further editing

After publishing, the plan cannot be modified. To make changes, you must create a new version.

See Publish a HazCom Plan for the step-by-step guide.

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Version Management

HazCom plans are living documents. As your chemicals change, employees turn over, and procedures evolve, you need to update the plan. Tellus handles this through formal version management.

How Versioning Works

• Every plan has a version number (e.g., v1.0, v1.1, v2.0)
• Creating a new version from an active or archived plan copies all questionnaire answers, generated content, and metadata into a new Draft
• The new Draft can be edited without affecting the currently active plan
• Once the new version is approved and published, it replaces the active plan
• The old version is automatically archived
• The complete version chain is preserved and traceable in the audit trail

When to Create a New Version

Trigger	Why
Annual review date reached	OSHA expects regular review of the written program
New chemicals added to inventory	The plan must list all hazardous chemicals present
Chemicals removed from inventory	Keep the inventory list current
Program Coordinator changes	The named individual must be current
Training procedures updated	The plan must describe actual procedures
Site or facility changes	Physical layout changes may affect SDS locations or storage
After an OSHA inspection finding	Correct any deficiencies noted by the inspector
Regulatory changes	The plan must comply with current standards

See Create a New Plan Version for instructions.

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Annual Review

OSHA expects your Written HazCom Program to be kept current. When you publish a plan, Tellus automatically sets a review date 365 days out. When the review date approaches, the system alerts the Program Coordinator that it is time to review and potentially update the plan.

Even if nothing has changed, documenting an annual review demonstrates due diligence. Create a new version, confirm everything is still accurate, and publish the updated version to reset the review clock.

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Versioning & Approvals Tab

The Versioning & Approvals tab in the HazCom Plan Hub organizes plans into three sections for easy review:

Section	What It Shows
Pending Approval	Plans submitted for review, waiting for a decision
Approved Plans	Plans that passed review and are ready to publish
Archived Versions	Previous plan versions that have been replaced

Each plan card shows the plan name, type, version number, coordinator, effective date, and current status. Click any card to open the plan and take action.