The Backstory
Malaysia, along with a hand-full of other global jurisdictions, such as the European Union and New Zealand, currently publish an official list of chemicals and their required hazard classifications. Companies who wish to place chemical substances, or mixtures containing them, in one of these markets, must assign that region’s official hazard classification to the substance, else face penalties, fines and customs delays at the port of entry.
What’s Changing
Malaysia’s Dept of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) have currently assigned a mandatory hazard classification to some 229 different chemical substances. It is expected that this list of required classifications may grow to circa 1,000 chemical substances by year’s end.
Implications
With nearly 800 new substances planned for addition to Malaysia’s list of required hazard classifications, many substances and mixtures previously classified only according to the general rules of Malaysia’s Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheets (CLASS) regulation, may need to be re-classified, using the official classification assigned by DOSH, which means that associated documentation, such as Safety Data Sheets and product labels, would also require revision.
Organizations are wise to explore automated, software-driven solutions to their SDS and label needs, in order to make such revisions as seamlessly as possible. No matter what your compliance needs are, Global Safety Management and its team of experts is here to help. Questions? Contact us today!
