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The 3rd revision of Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was first introduced in Australia on Jan 1st 2012 under the Work Health and Safety Law. However, the industry was given a 5 years’ grace period to allow them to reclassify chemicals and implement necessary changes to labels and SDS.
On Jan 1st 2017, the transition period officially ended and GHS requirements became mandatory in Australia (excluding Victoria, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory). Manufacturers and importers of hazardous chemicals will be the most affected by the introduction of GHS. Industry must now classify the chemicals they supply to a workplace correctly according to GHS requirements and use correct labels and SDS. However, suppliers are allowed to supply chemicals already in stock before Jan 1st 2017 or if the chemicals were manufactured or imported before 2017 and were correctly labelled. Users of hazardous chemicals are also not required to relabel or dispose of existing stocks.
To better assist the industry to understand the classification and labelling requirements of their chemicals, Australia government developed an online database called the Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS), where over 4500 chemicals are classified in accordance with the GHS requirements. Enterprises can search chemicals by name or CAS numbers in this database.
