Enforcement authorities in the European Union have announced that they will inspect how safety information on hazardous chemicals is compiled, communicated and observed in the workplace.
The EU says that the main aim of the process will be to investigate the quality of the safety data sheets that contain guidelines on the safe use of hazardous substances, many of them operating under the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) Regulation.
Inspectors will be comparing the data sheets with the information established by the chemical safety reports that substance manufacturers prepare to ensure that they match up.
They will also go through the exposure scenarios attached to the safety data sheets, which describe the amount and character of exposure to hazards when a substance is manufactured or used.
The EU says that one of the objectives of the enforcement action is to ensure that workers handling hazardous chemicals, especially those dealing with substances of very high concern, receive sufficient and correct safety information.
The project will map how effectively safety data sheets are communicated throughout the supply chain, taking in everyone from manufacturers to end users.
Inspectors will also be asked to investigate if workers respect the safety information as part of attempts to discover how effectively safety messages are being communicated.
Teams from national enforcement authorities will work with labour inspectors to carry out the inspections.
The first inspections took place in January this year and will continue throughout the remainder of the year. A report on the results will be available in the fourth quarter of 2018.
