Taking the sting out of REACH
With the imminent entry into force of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals Regulations (REACH), all chemical manufacturers and suppliers will be required to share all important safety information with their customers and chemical users right down the supply chain to the user.
With the imminent entry into force of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals Regulations (REACH), all chemical manufacturers and suppliers will be required to share all important safety information with their customers and chemical users right down the supply chain to the user.
UK-based Environmental Science has started an initiative to assist in this process with the introduction of a Workplace Action Safety Protection Sheet (WASP sheet). Properly written, Safety Data Sheets (SDS) effectively communicate chemical hazards to most chemical industry professionals. However, the SDS is necessarily written in technical language, and so cannot easily be understood by the majority of workers in industries where chemicals are used.
The WASP sheet plugs the gap between the scientifically expressed SDS and most of the workforce. It works by using software to extract key information from the SDS (CHIP Classification, Risk Phrases, and other important data). It then presents this on a single-page WASPS document, in a simple and highly visual graphical form designed to be assimilated and understood easily.
The WASP sheet shows individual linear bar charts for each route of exposure, through mouth, nose, skin etc., as well as flammability, environmental impact and waste considerations. Individual WASPS sheets can be produced in less than five minutes, and can be printed directly, or saved as pdf files. WASP sheets written in English can be reproduced automatically by the software in four other European languages.
The package also contains a full implementation of the COSHH Essentials risk assessment method introduced by the HSE. Subsequent COSHH assessment reports are created in HTML and contain dynamic links direct to the control-measure guidance sheets on the HSE website. In addition, provision has also been made on the WASP Sheet to place reminders of control measures and PPE assigned of any prior COSHH assessment.
WASPS software comes with a pre-written library of more than 1,300 WASP sheets, including many generic and proprietary products. It is available as a low-cost subscription service on annual basis from Environmental Science.
