Safe Use of Chemicals in the Workplace

"REACH" and the Database of Chemical Substances

As part of the European REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has made its database of chemical substances publicly available. Its aim is that employers and employees should be able to access information that will allow them to use the substances in a safe manner.

Note that the objective of the REACH Regulation (which came into force in June 2007) is to clarify and streamline EU legislation on the safe use of chemical substances.

You can access the database of chemical substances at:
http://apps.echa.europa.eu/registered/registered-sub.aspx

How to Use the Database

Visitors to the website can search for substances by Name, EC Number or CAS Number. If you don't know the search information in full, then the website accepts partial search criteria, which may help to track down the substances that are of interest.

If you are unable to find a substance using the search criteria, you can perform a search without entering any search terms, which will allow you to browse all current entries. A nice feature of this option is that you are able to sort the entries in a number of ways.

The kind of information available includes:

Hazard properties
Classification and labelling
How to use the chemicals safely

Limitations of the Available Information

There are some important caveats:

The information for each substance is that which has been provided by the manufacturer or importer. Consequently, whilst the REACH Regulation requires companies to submit accurate information, ECHA does not assume any responsibility for accuracy
The amount of information that has to be submitted for a particular substance depends on the volume produced or imported. Consequently the amount of information submitted can vary from one substance to another.
There is no guarantee that the information provided for individual substances complies with the REACH Regulation.

As a consequence of these limitations, anyone wishing to search the database must first click a box to indicate acceptance of a disclaimer by ECHA on the basis of the above caveats.

Another limitation of the database is that it only contains information about chemical substances as distinct from products that might contain the substances. Consequently, users may still have to do some investigation before deciding what safety procedures should apply to the products they purchase and/or use.

Expansion of the Database

The database contains information on those substances that have been registered with ECHA under the REACH Regulation and therefore it is constantly growing. This is not an indefinite process since REACH has set down target dates for companies to register substances, namely:

30th November 2010
31st May 2013
31st May 2018

Which date applies to a particular substance depends on its hazardous properties and the amount that is manufactured/imported. Eventually ECHA expects information to be available on more than 30,000 substances.

Because this is an early release of the database its value may be limited but will improve over time. Nevertheless, if you have responsibility for the safe use of chemical substances in your organisation or if you use chemical substances in the course of your job, then it is worth gaining familiarity with the database and how to make best use of it.

Contact EDP HS&E Consultants for all your health, safety and environment needs, including policies and risk assessments for use of chemicals in the workplace.

To discuss your requirements, without any obligation on your part, please gives us a call on 01744 766000 or complete the Enquiry Form on our website.

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