ChemSW, Inc. recently released a new capability in their CISPro Global and CISPro Live chemical inventory systems that allows users to define and identify GHS values for chemicals in the CISPro database. Using this new feature enables companies to readily adopt and stay within compliance of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals regulation that was released in July 2009.
"Basically, the United Nations is trying to consolidate the disparate systems used around the world into a finite set of universal classes of risk," explains David Hessler, Vice President of Software Research and Development at ChemSW. "The primary use of the GHS system will be labeling of toxic and hazardous materials, so this is very much a safety regulatory requirement that EH&S managers will need to ensure is implemented correctly."
Agencies worldwide, such as the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), are currently revising their standards to the GHS. OSHA, for instance, has completed revisions to their Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) and published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on September 30 in the Federal Register that will require chemical manufacturers and importers to have a hazard communication program for hazardous chemicals.
