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Trace One
Full support from Australian industry
Last January 10th 2020 the Australian health and safety agency (Safe Work Australia, SWA) agreed to adopt the seventh revision of GHS after receiving “unanimous” support from industry.
Safe Work Australia is now working towards adopting the GHS seventh revision from mid 2020 with a two-year transitional period that will give manufacturers and importers time to prepare to the new classifications, labels and safety data sheets.
Building Block approach
Of the GHS 7 building blocks, Australia plans to introduce:
- Desensitised explosives
- Aerosols category 3
- Subcategorization for flamable gas of category 1
- Additional hazard classes for pyrophoric and chemically unstable gases
But does not intend to use:
- Acute Toxicity category 5 (for all routes of exposure)
- Aspiration hazard category 2
- Flammable gases of category 2
- All environmental hazard classes
The proposal will also reintroduce the category 2B of Eye Irritation, not adopted in the current GHS implementation. Safe Work Australia will also publish guidances to help manufacters and importers in this transition.
New Zealand consults on GHS 7 adoption
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Authority of New Zealand (EPA) is proposing to update its current hazardous substance classification system to the seventh revision of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS 7).
Currently, the country manages hazardous substances under several different pieces of legislation with the key one beign the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO). This sets the criteria that designate a substance as hazardous, and also allows the setting of a framework that assigns particular hazard classifications to all substances that are designated as hazardous.
If the EPA’s proposal is approved, it will be the first time the country has converted the HSNO numbers to those used by the GHS. The public consultation has ended last January 9th 2020.
For more information regarding the GHS 7 implementation by Australia and New Zealand please use the following links:
For more information regarding the Trace One’s GHS solutions, please click HERE.
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