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Trace One
The globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS) is a standard developed by the United Nations to harmonize the classification and labelling of chemicals globally.
As an international voluntary system, GHS is not legally binding in any country. Therefore, the countries that adopt it must issue their own regulations or standards to implement GHS criteria and provisions.
In the United States, the management of issues relating to the classification, labelling and creation of SDS follows the guidance contained in 29 CFR 1910.1200. This regulation was published in 2012 and known as HazCom 2012 or GHS USA. It contains all the rules for the calculation of danger communicated through labeling and SDS according to the criteria validated by OSHA.
In Europe, on the other hand, you follow different regulations about the classification, labelling and creation of SDS. The regulation containing the classification and labelling criteria is 1272/2008, also known as CLP or GHS EU, while for the drafting of the safety data sheets refers to Regulation 830/2015.
The CLP and HazCom 2012 in practice
Since 2003, thanks to the publication of the first edition of GHS, many nations have decided to adopt the harmonized GHS classification system that uses a building blocks approach.
Thanks to this, the nations can freely decide what elements to apply in accordance with the specific needs.
An example of this approach is the absence of the 4th category of flammable liquids in the CLP, which is present in the US regulation. The CLP Regulation, instead, implements the categories of environmental hazards absent, instead, in the Hazcom 2012.
Another difference affecting the U.S. Regulation relates to section 15 of the safety data sheet in which it is necessary to indicate any correspondences related to various federal and state regulations, such as California Proposition 65, Pennsylvania RTK, EPCRA and TSCA Inventory.
A specific layout for the Safety Data Sheet and the label can also be decided, which can contain individual country's distinctive elements. In fact, it is common to find widespread standards such as HMIS and NFPA on the American label.
The solution in practice
Trace One solutions make it easy to manage and modularly manage GHS from the various countries of the world, so that you can classify and issue the Safety Data Sheet in accordance with the current destination regulation.
In addition to providing calculation engines and models for SDS generation, there are a number of packages and data sources (DSR and Datapackage) so that you can manage it more easily.
To find out all the solutions available for Trace One SDS Authoring Professional, Trace One SDS Authoring Corporate, Trace One Devex PLM and HSM please contact our Customer Service at EU-customer-service@selerant.com
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