REACH: Responsibility on suppliers
August 1st 2007 As many readers will be aware, the REACH directive was brought into UK legislation earlier this year and, while DEFRA is the government department responsible for this new legislation, the HSE has been designated as the competent authority regarding enforcement when it comes to the workplace safety aspects.
From a superficial overview of REACH, it appears that the manufacturer/supplier of chemical materials now carries a more exacting responsibility for defining the ways in which products are used, stored and handled, including the mopup and disposal of spills. While this will alter the nature of the information provided and place a requirement on manufacturers to respond to enquiries when users are carrying out risk assessments (as now under COSHH), the user will not be able to use the chemical until the information is registered at a European level, or so the BSIF has been advised.
This all sounds as if it might be a move in the right direction towards improved data sheets. However, there is a one year transition period and only the high volume chemicals will need to be registered in the first instance, in 2008.
Following this, the registration programme does not require low volume chemicals to be registered before 2018.
The BSIF hopes that this will now motivate chemical manufacturers to engage with the safety industry to ensure that better safety information is available. "The fact that it is the user's responsibility to ensure that his staff are protected under the current safety legislation allows chemical manufacturers to ignore other than the basic requirements they have under COSHH," said a BSIF spokesman.
REACH places safety responsibilities on suppliers of chemicals. "The current resistance by chemical manufacturers to consult on the best and most appropriate PPE to provide protection for those handling their products will now need to change as this information will be the chemical manufacturer's responsibility under REACH. The use of expressions such as ‘use suitable protective clothing’, without any reference to type, standard references, and/or the most suitable class or type will be inadequate.
The BSIF hopes this will lead towards a dialogue between manufacturers of chemicals and protective equipment to the benefit of all." More articles from BSIF Enterprise: | 
