Transport and labelling of waste and hazardous substances 9

United Kingdom

Safety Advisers

6.1 Since 1 January 2000, employers who transport, load or unload dangerous goods in significant quantities are in breach of regulations if they do not have an appointed qualified dangerous goods safety adviser. The requirement comes from a European Directive which was transposed into UK legislation through the Transport of Dangerous Goods (Safety Advisers) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999 No. 257) which came into force on 1 March 1999. The Regulations require the appointment of Qualified Dangerous Goods Safety Advisers for employers who consign and load dangerous goods for transport, operators of road vehicles and train operators who transport dangerous goods and those who load or unload dangerous goods during transit, such as freight forwarders and warehousers and employers at ports and airports who load or unload dangerous goods on or off vehicles. HSE Inspectors have announced that they will take a practical approach when looking for compliance and if an employer can demonstrate that actual progress is being made to comply with the requirement, it will be taken into account. The Regulations include some exemptions. "Dangerous Goods" for these purposes means for example, flammable, combustible, toxic, corrosive, explosive, radioactive or infectious substances. (HSE News Release, 16 November 1999)

Health

6.2 "Health Surveillance at Work", guidance on what employers need to do to meet their legal duty to provide health surveillance at work has been revised and published by the Health and Safety Executive. The guidance describes what is meant by health surveillance under the Health & Safety Regulations and explains the value of health surveillance in identifying harm to employees' health at an early stage. The guidance is aimed primarily at managers, however will also be of interest to employees, safety representatives and occupational health professionals. The principles of effective health surveillance programmes outlined in the guidance include involving employees at an early stage, obtaining specialist advice if appropriate, identifying the right procedure, record keeping, disseminating information and acting on that information and evaluating the results. (HSE, October 1999)

CHIP

6.3 The Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999 No. 3165), known as CHIP 99(2), came into force on 1 January 2000, with suppliers of dangerous chemicals obliged to comply by 1 July 2000. The six month transitional period has been allowed to minimise the cost of the Regulations to suppliers by allowing for extra time in which to make the necessary changes to labels and safety data sheets. To accompany CHIP 99(2), a fifth edition of the "Approved Supply List" has been published which, as with previous editions, is based on EC Directives and sets out classification and labelling information for several thousand commonly supplied chemical substances so that suppliers of the substances do not need to self-classify them. The fifth edition includes updated information on 380 substances and new information on 160 substances. A fourth edition of the "Approved Classification and Labelling Guide" has also been published to accompany CHIP 99(2), which sets out criteria to be used by suppliers when self-classifying chemicals not listed in the Approved Supply List and when assigning safety advice phrases. This edition replaces the third edition. (HSE, December 1999)

European Union

Classification, Packaging and Labelling

6.4 A Corrigendum to Directive 98/73/EC adapting to technical progress for the 24th time Directive 67/548/EEC on the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances has been published in the OJ. The correction contains a revised list of entries for Annex I to the original Directive including cryolite. (OJ L285, 8 November 1999).

6.5 A Corrigendum has also been published to Directive 98/98/EC adapting to technical progress for the 25th time Directive 67/548/EEC on the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances. This correction also contains a list of revised entries to the Annex I of the original Directive. (OJ L293, 15 November 1999).

Shipment of Waste

6.6 A Corrigendum to Regulation (EC) No. 1547/1999 has been published in the OJ. The Regulation applies to shipments of certain types of waste to certain non-OECD countries. The amendment alters some of the wastes listed on Annex B to the Regulation, which lists wastes to which, on export, must be subject to a specific procedure. Many types of waste and scrap non-ferrous metals and their alloys are covered in the Corrigendum. (OJ L 323, 15 December 1999)