GHS

[Lyn]

Food for thought. Ran off an MSDS for zinc sulfate from ChemSupply and printed six pages. Tried out the GHS function on Chemgold for same chemical. Printed short version of GHS and got nine pages of information. Printed long version of GHS and got sixteen pages. For those who keep hard copies we will need more shelf space and more binders to hold all the extra pages of information. Not to mention all those trees that will bite the dust and all the extra chemicals in the air from printers running hot in an effort to keep us informed and up to date. Cheers.

Lyn.

[rae]

Hi all,

I copied this from a post under DG codes by Sheryl. Thought it might be useful.

"On 1st Jan 2012 all states in Australia will have in force new national harmonised OHSW legislation called “Work Health & Safety” (WHS). As part of these changes Australia will finally embrace the “Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). GHS is a new way of classifying chemicals & will result in new Regulations & Codes of Practice for chemicals and new labels & new "Safety Data Sheets" (SDS) for all chemicals.

The WHS Model Act has been finalised & all states have either passed (Qld & NSW), or have tabled the legislation (SA, ACT) or are about to be tabled (WA, Vic, NT, Tas). Regulations & Codes of Practise are still in the draft stage with final documents are due late July or early August.

Chemical Safety in Schools documentation & all other chemical safety information will need to be updated. Chemwatch has started this process & you can already print GHS style SDS’s.

Instead of "Risk & Safety" phrases we will have to become use to “Signal Words”, “Hazard Statements”, “Precautionary Statements” & new Pictograms”

This change and has major implications for all schools & unfortunately most people are unaware of these changes. More Codes of Practices are coming out soon including Safe Use of Chemicals & Storage of Chemicals. So I would advise delaying any changes to chemical labelling, storage or MSDS’s, until full details of GHS are known.


More info on WHS is available at:
http://safeworkaustralia.gov.au/Legisla ... ation.aspx


More details & links on GHS are available on the Safe Work Australia Website:
http://safeworkaustralia.gov.au/SafetyI ... /GHS.aspxI

recommend that you read the Companion Guide.

All the new Pictograms can be found at:
http://live.unece.org/trans/danger/publ ... grams.html"

[Jazz]

my first GHS label

[merilyn]

Jazz
Thanks for sharing this momentous experience with us all!
How did you merge the green dot into these labels? When you print them, do you just print them onto normal paper? Or do you have some other amazing skills???

Thanks for your help

Merilyn

[Jazz]

I add dot, takes little bit of time but saves heaps of time later on. Yes I do print on plain paper, you need to have coloured printer though.

[sunray18]

love love it... i use plain paper for labels too, and use a packing tape 'gun' to attach them to whatever.. quick easy, but BEST of all comes OFF easy!
NOW how to talk my HOD into a coloured printer...

[sunray18]

OOPS - I HAVE a 'coloured' printer... just not one that PRINTS in COLOUR..

[Narelle01]

i just made my first GHS label, I'm starting to replace all the labels that were here when I started that are handwritten!!

But one thing i note - is how can i get the chemical name to be Capitalised - you know at least the first letter of each word, looks so weird in lower case.

[Labbie]

I myself can see this being a BIG problem, image a cupboard full of these labels, OH&S sorry WHS can hardly read them myself, so how on earth are the students & teacher going to manage. Please if you manage to enlarge the chemical name please do let me know. It is _______________________ to say the least.

[curie]

I agree Labbie, but I thought it was my dodgy eyes! I hate having to put my specs on every time I print them cause they're in 5 point type.

[RosalieM]

Perhaps for dropper bottles you could print the labels in a reasonable size and laminate them and store them in the container with the dropper bottles which have chemical name and absolute essential info only on them?

[Narelle01]

calcium nitrate's label is too long to fit onto the dropper bottle, so am going to tri them, laminate them and then attach them to the neck of the bottle, also put a label on the dropper bottle tray and on the shelf.

Who said this was a quiet time of the year???

[lizzieb]

PSA(Public Service Association of NSW) are running training sessions on the WHS around NSW this month.

Have emailed as many of my local DEC network and regional contacts as possible to let them know.

Please pass this info on in your area. There's days planned for Armidale, Barraba & Lismore, plus Central West and Wagga. Not sure about other regional venues - check their website.

Any opportunity to learn more about all this is worth taking!

[Jazz]

try this one

[Ocker]

That's why I have always made my labels on chemwatch on disc
You can select Custom label and select user text

[rae]

Don't know if it will work with the GHS labels but I copy and paste into a word document and then modify as needed. Enlarge and decrease font sizes etc.

[Narelle01]

Thanks for the label!!!
I have done 5 chemicals so far! go me!!!

[sunray18]

I also copy and paste them into a word document, take the time to format into columns etc. That way, if you need labels quickly you already have them stored in your files and don't have to log onto Chemwatch.
I have ju8st commenced GHS labels and find that they fit better in landscape view, two columns and a 0.4 gap in the centre, page set up is 1cm all around. I get 8 to a page that way.
I print them onto plain paper then use the large sticky tape [using a gun like packers do] and attach them that way..
I agree re dropper bottles - the labels do NOT fit a 25mL bottle and I know that tying them onto the neck wont last with students.. thinking thinking..

[Jazz]

Hi
you still can save and manipulate labels as you want. i'll attach instructions but if you need more you can call me and I can talk you through.
Margaret could ASET organise IT for Lab tech?
Sorry file is to big i can not attach, but if you are interested I can try email

[Ocker]

GHS micro labels print out in 2 columns of 7 and fit perfectly on 25ml dropper bottles