Classification & Labelling Identifies hazard, not risk
The purpose of classification is to identify the hazardous
intrinsic properties of substances. It is important to remember
that hazard is different to
risk.
Chemicals are fundamental to our everyday lives. Not only are
they the basis for the fertilisers, pesticides and food additives
that improve our nutrition and for the pharmaceuticals that benefit
our health, they are also essential for the production of many of
the man-made materials on which our standard of living now
depends.
Through constant research, industry endeavours to ensure that
the use of such chemicals in end-products does not adversely effect
our health and safety or the environment. In the case of phthalate
plasticisers, more than €110 million has been spent on
research during nearly 50 years of safe production and use making
phthalates one of the best evaluated groups of substances.
A significant part of this research addresses the intrinsic
properties of chemicals, e.g. their possible adverse physical,
health or environmental effects.
The manufacture, transportation and use of chemicals in Europe
is closely regulated at national and EU level and the volume of
such regulation has increased rapidly in recent years. In 1967 the
EU established a classification and labelling scheme for substances
(DSD), which in 1988 was extended to preparations (DPD).
Classification and Labelling is one component of the EU chemicals
management and applies to existing and all new chemical substances
and preparations.
The classification of substances is based on establishing the
possible adverse effects of their intrinsic properties, their
hazards - by the use of tests and evaluating the results of those
tests against standards or criteria. It is only when the intrinsic
properties meet the criteria that chemicals are deemed to be
hazardous. The specific objective of this is to enable the
establishment of any necessary protective measures required (e.g.
safety gloves) during normal handling and use.
There are two basic concepts that need to be considered here,
hazard and risk. Some relevant definitions from ISO 11014 are:
- Harm: Physical injury and/or damage to health
or property
- Hazard: A potential source of harm
- Risk: The probable rate of occurrence of a
hazard causing harm; and the degree of severity of the harm
- Safety: Freedom from unacceptable risk of
harm
It is commonly accepted that Hazard x Exposure = Risk
In Europe, much but not all the relevant legislation we face is
based on the classification, which is hazard based.
One of the consequences of classification is labelling, which
requires a pictorial representation of the main hazards of a
chemical and a series of statements, inappropriately named "Risk
Phrases", stating its hazards. Both are designed to provide
immediate information to users, in the same way that road signs are
used to inform drivers of traffic hazards and regulations.
Risks are identified separately at different stages in the
manufacturing and use life cycle according to numerous Directives
and ultimately as part of the European Risk Assessment process.
Here the focus is on the likelihood of coming into contact with the
substance (exposure).
Classification has no effect on articles containing such
substances and these do not have to be labelled.
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