10 GHS Facts in 60 Seconds
- GHS stands for the Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals
- It is a set of guidelines for ensuring the safe production, transport, handling, use and disposal of hazardous materials
- The GHS was developed by the United Nations, as a way to bring into agreement the chemical regulations and standards of different countries. In short, it is an international attempt to get everyone on the same page
- The U.S. officially adopted GHS on March 26, 2012. The hope is that every country will incorporate the tenets of the GHS into their own chemical management systems with the goal of making the international sale and transportation of hazardous chemicals easier, as well as, making workplace conditions safer for all employees exposed to chemical hazards.
- The GHS is not a global law or regulation– a common misconception – it is a system. Think of it as a set of recommendations or collection of best practices. No country is obligated to adopt all or even any part of the GHS.
- Countries can pick and choose those pieces of the GHS they wish to incorporate into their own regulations (this is called the building block approach). And each adopting country is solely responsible for its enforcement within its jurisdiction.
- To date, 67 countries have adopted GHS or are in the process of adopting GHS.
- The most noticeable changes brought by GHS for most organizations will be changes to safety labels and safety data sheets.
- As an example, the GHS refers to safety data sheets as SDSs, dropping the M from material safety data sheets (or MSDSs) as most American companies are used to. The GHS also standardizes the content and formatting of SDSs into 16 sections with a strict ordering. Labels also look quite different, with 6 standardized elements that include specific language depending upon chemical classification.
- GHS is meant to be a logical and comprehensive approach to:
- Defining health, physical and environmental hazards of chemicals (although environmental hazards are outside OSHA’s jurisdiction)
- Creating classification processes that use available data on chemicals for comparison with the defined hazard criteria
- Communicating hazard information in a prescribed and uniform way on labels and safety data sheets
- Defining health, physical and environmental hazards of chemicals (although environmental hazards are outside OSHA’s jurisdiction)
GHS Meets HCS
In the United States, GHS adoption is under the domain of four agencies:
- Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Department of Transportation (DOT)
- Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
OSHA served as the lead U.S. agency on the classification of chemicals and hazard communication and adoption affects over 43 million workers in over 5 million workplaces. The DOT was actually the first agency to implement GHS and OSHA’s adoption brings the regulations between the agencies into greater harmony. The EPA is expected to follow closely on the heels of OSHA’s adoption with revisions to its own standards to bring them into alignment with GHS.
Adoption of GHS brings major changes to the HCS, especially around:
- Hazard classification
- Labels
- Safety Data Sheets
- Training
The biggest costs to businesses will be to:
- Re-classify all chemicals using GHS criteria
- Re-author all Safety Data Sheets in GHS formats and produce GHS formatted labels
- Train workers on new how to read new label and SDS elements, and newly identified hazards
OSHA anticipates the revised standard will prevent 43 fatalities and 585 injuries annually, with a net annualized savings of over $500 million a year.
Learn more about the GHS by clicking on the links below:
10 GHS Facts in 60 Seconds GHS 101: An Overview GHS 101: History of the GHS
GHS 101: Classification GHS 101: Labels GHS 101: Safety Data Sheets
GHS 101: U.S. Adoption GHS 101: GHS Definitions 5 Great Questions on GHS
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Is this GHS going to be a replacement, by law, or will we be able to keep on using our present MSDS books?
Thank You
Richard,
Good question. When OSHA publishes a final rule revising the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to align with GHS, which is looking to be the first of 2012, it will be law. OSHA was given the power to create standards under the OSH Act. Congress can always overturn an OSHA standard, but unless and until that happens an OSHA standard carries the full weight of law. In regards to MSDS books, binders, libraries, etc., every U.S. company that must maintain MSDSs and provide Right-to-Know access to employees will be affected by the revised HCS. You will start to see new GHS formatted MSDSs coming into your facilities soon – actually some companies already are. As the MSDSs come in (they are actually called SDSs under GHS), you will need to update your books.
ok now is the 30 year hold on the msds still going to be in affect.
Thanks for the question, as updated safety data sheets start rolling in thanks to GHS adoption, the first thing you’ll need to do is to look them over and compare them with the MSDSs they replace (if any) to see what’s changed. There may be new information or newly identified hazards that need to be addressed with employees via training. Next, you will need to update your safety data sheet library or libraries. The question then becomes, what to do with old MSDSs; do you have to keep them? Technically, the answer is no. Per the Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records Standard (29 CFR 1910.1020), you are required to have some record of the chemicals in use at your facilities for 30 years beyond their end use date. It does not necessarily have to be a safety data sheet – though that is permitted and a common practice. If you do not keep a safety data sheet to meet the Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records Standard, then you must keep additional information about the chemical, specifically, the chemical identity and when and where it was used. This additional information is valuable, even if you choose to keep the safety data sheet. A good electronic system allows you to both archive the MSDS along with information about where and when it was used.