Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for …

1 Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply)Regulations 2002 What have youheard?You may have heard of CHIP,CHIP 2, CHIP 2000 or CHIP may wonder if any of themapply to you. But which? Youmay also have heard they arever y long, complicated andtechnical. Someone may havetold you that you need a degreein chemistr y to understandthem. You may be feeling ratherconfused, if not anxious..So what is thetruth?If this sounds familiar, then thisguide should put you on the is our short name for theChemicals (Hazard Informationand Packaging for Supply) Idiot s guidewillhelp you decide what you need todo about CHIP and whether youshould get help.

2 It introduces youto the Regulations and identifiesthe various supporting documentswhich help you to follow the you sellchemicals?By Chemicals we mean singlesubstances (such as acetone)or mixtures (preparations) suchas a paintbrush cleaner. Thechemical could var y from acommodity chemical sold inbulk to a household-cleaningproduct sold in small so, this guide is aimed atyou. It introduces your legalobligations about providingsafety, health andenvironmental Information foryour s CHIP for?CHIP helps protect people and theenvironment from the ill effects ofchemicals by requiring suppliers to: identify the hazards (dangers) ofthe Chemicals they supply; give Information about thechemicals hazards to their customers;and package the Chemicals applies to the supply ofchemicals - there are different laws forcontrolling them in the workplace andon the transport of dangerouschemicals.

3 By supply we mean sell,offer for sale, provide commercialsamples, import, or transfer chemicalsfrom one person to all chemicalscovered by CHIP?No. Some special Chemicals , forexample medicines and cosmetics,are not covered because other morespecific laws apply. These, and theother exceptions, are described in theRegulations. 3 What are the basicrequirements ofCHIP?The basic requirement of CHIP isfor you to decide whether thechemical you supply is , with its ApprovedClassification and Labelling Guide(ACLG), sets out the rules forthis.

4 They tell you how to: decide what kind of hazard thechemical has; and explain the hazard byassigning a simple sentence thatdescribes it (known as a riskphrase or R-phrase for short).This process is known you classify the chemicalwrongly then ever ything else youdo under CHIP may be wrong. If you are selling a substance,some of the work may have beendone for you. Many commonlyused substances have alreadybeen classified and appear in theCHIP Approved Supply List (ASL). BUT the vast majority ofchemicals are covered by CHIPIn CHIP, you have to classifybefore you do anything must use your substance is not inthe ASL, or if you are supplyinga preparation (a mixture ofsubstances), then you mustclassify it yourself: For substances, the ACLG explains how to classify forphysicochemical properties (eghow easily the chemical willcatch fire), health effects (egthe chemical burns the skin orcauses asthma) and dangersfor the environment (eg thechemical kills fish).

5 Theexplanations in the ACLG arecalled criteria. There is no needto do expensive tests, you canuse Information that is alreadyavailable to you. For preparations, you canuse either a calculationmethod, or for certain hazardsyou can use the criteria in easy to follow summar ycan be found on page a general rule, if thechemical is not dangerous theremay be nothing more you needto do. The exceptions to this(listed in CHIP) include severalspecial cases where somepreparations that are notdangerous need additionalwarning Information , and/or asafety data deciding what theclassification is, you have to: tell your customers aboutthe hazards ; and tell them, as far as you can,how they can use yourchemicals have to do this by a label; and a safety data sheet (a mustif your customer uses thechemical at work, but otherequally good measures may beused for consumers).

6 LabellingIf you supply a dangerouschemical in a package, thepackage must be the chemical is notsupplied in a package (eg ifthe chemical is supplied from atanker or down a pipeline), thenyou don t have to provide a label- it wouldn t be practical!The aim of the label is to: tell anyone handling thepackage or using the chemicalsabout its hazards ; and give brief advice on whatprecautions are specifies what has to goon the label (eg the chemical sname) and also tells you howpackages should be labelled (egthe size of the label).

7 Safety data sheets Safety data sheets (SDSs) are alsoneeded if your chemical is not classifiedas dangerous, but contains smallamounts of a dangerous you are selling to someone whois going to use the chemical for theirwork then a SDS must be provided,but you can use different (but equallygood) methods for other customers,eg Information on the doesn t tell you exactly whatshould go into a safety data sheet butdoes: set a standard for the quality ofinformation to be included; and give 16 headings under which theinformation has to be quality standard puts theresponsibility on you to ensure thatthe Information provided is sufficient,ie enough to allow the user to decidehow to protect: people at work; and the will usually include informationon: the hazards of the chemical ; handling and storage; its environmental effects.

8 And exposure workers the label is asupplement to informationprovided by the data sheets are a MUST ifyour chemical is dangerous andsupplied for use at work - whetherin packages or are sometimesuncertain where CHIP finishesand the law on workplace andenvironmental control of thechemical starts, but broadly: Providing a safety data sheetto your customers is covered byCHIP. Employers use of theinformation in the safety datasheets to assess and managethe risks is covered byworkplace control law (eg theControl of SubstancesHazardous to Health Regulations(COSHH)* and the DangerousSubstances and ExplosiveAtmospheres Regulations), orenvironmental control else doesCHIP expect medo?

9 PackagingCHIP says that the packagingused for a chemical must besuitable. We think this isexplained clearly in theRegulations. Let us know if you donot understand it. Our addresscan be found at the end of closures andtactile danger warningsCHIP sets out specialrequirements for the Packaging ofcertain Chemicals that are sold tothe public.*HSE has published guidance to help firms using Chemicals to control thehealth risks to their employees better and comply with the law. COSHH essentials: easy steps to control Chemicals ,takes employers through a riskassessment to find the control measures they need and gives practical examplesin a series of control guidance sheets (see details at the end of the guide).

10 Thestarting point for the assessment is your safety data sheet. You can use thisguidance to help the firms you supply to find the control measures they need toprotect health. You may also find it helpful help on SDS can be found in the CHIP SDS Approved Code of have to be fitted with achild-resistant closure (meeting acertain standard) to prevent youngchildren swallowing the must have a tactile dangerwarning (normally a small, raisedtriangle) to alert the blind andpartially sighted that they arehandling a dangerous you re unclear about whatneeds to be done, you should contactyour local Trading Standards Office foradvice.