Important New Updates for Safety Data Sheets in 2021 – What You Need to Know
REACH UPDATE
The European Commission has amended Annex II of REACH, concerning the compilation of Safety Data Sheets (SDSs).
Safety Data Sheets don’t change very often – this is an uncommon and important update.
The regulation aligns REACH Annex II with the 6th and 7th revisions of GHS, and brings in a number of modifications to SDSs. The latest amendment to Annex II was published in the Official Journal on 26th June 2020 (Regulation (EU) 2020/878).
DEADLINES
The regulation will apply from 1st January 2021, which means that all new SDSs, authored after this date, must take into account the new requirements.
All existing SDSs, authored before January 2021, will still be valid until the grace period ends on 31st December 2022 (except for bulk mixtures requiring an UFI).
After this date, all SDSs will need to be updated to the new requirements.
Organisations should start the process of updating their SDSs now.
THE CHANGES IN SDS REQUIREMENTS
The main provisions of the new revised Annex II are:
- The alignment of Safety Data Sheets with UN GHS Revisions 6 & 7.
- The alignment with requirements for nanomaterials.
- To clarify requirements related to Poison Centres (Unique Formula Identifiers (UFIs)).
- Additional information for substances and mixtures with endocrine-disrupting properties.
- The addition of Specific Concentration Limits (SCLs), M-factors and Acute Toxicity Estimates.
The main sections of the SDS which have undergone revision are 1, 2, 3, 9, 11 and 12, with sections 3 and 9 seeing the biggest changes.
Visit our Hibiscus site to see the list of updates by SDS Section. |