Experience and implementation

T he 5th Hazardous Substances Day Switzerland drew a red thread from GHS (Globally Harmonized System) and its implementation to the consequences of improper disposal of chemicals and the perennial safety data sheet to various workshops.

Experience with GHS
The Globally Harmonized System for the globally uniform classification and labelling of hazardous substances has been fully implemented in Switzerland since the beginning of July 2015, and the final sales deadlines are now running. Dr Markus Hofmann from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) gave an introductory presentation of what has already been achieved and what still needs to be done. "The GHS is absolutely necessary, especially in times of globalised trade, we needed a system with harmonised criteria," he said. Hofmann shared initial experience with the participants and addressed various scenarios and special regulations. He still sees a number of questions that are unclear, and he believes that there is still a great need for information. An important point for Hofmann is: "GHS answers the question of whether there is a hazard. But GHS is not yet risk management."

It's not enough to knock on the barrel...
"Actually, I am 73 days late with this presentation," then said Dr. Benjamin U. Müller, Managing Director of the SMDK consortium and overall project manager for the remediation of the hazardous waste landfill in Kölliken. "After all, there has been no hazardous waste at our site for 73 days and we are no longer subject to the Hazardous Waste Ordinance." Nevertheless, the participants were captivated by his stories about the consequences and effects of improper disposal of hazardous substances. "Back then, time was pressing; industry and the authorities needed a landfill site. The hazardous waste landfill was opened in the former clay pit and on a slope, and without an accurate site evaluation and without sealing. One simply knocked on the barrels to check whether prohibited liquids were inside. More was only known on the basis of the self-declaration of the barrels by the suppliers; there was usually no analysis," Müller recounted.

The story is well known. It stank in Kölliken AG, the population suffered and the groundwater was polluted. It was decided to clean up and dismantle the landfill. In the meantime, more than 628000 tonnes of material have been removed. The project cost 150 million Swiss francs in the securing phase and 711 million francs during the landfill deconstruction. Aftercare will cost another 25 million Swiss francs.

Safety data sheets - a perennial issue
Dr Bojan Gasic, a research associate at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), combined theory and practice and devoted his talk to safety data sheets, which always raise questions among those responsible in companies. "A safety data sheet is part of the self-regulation of manufacturers," Gasic said. "However, it is not a free pass at all!" He stressed the importance of these SDSs for taking necessary measures around health and safety, workplace safety, environmental protection and supply chain communication. And he addressed various ambiguities and special cases, emphasizing, "The devil is often in the details. You have to check very carefully whether the MSDS is correct, even if you only imported a hazardous substance. Because an importer is considered a manufacturer."

Workshops
In the afternoon of the 5th Hazardous Substances Day Switzerland, various workshops were held in parallel to take account of the different interests of the participants. Volker Wittmann, project manager of Swiss TS Technical Services AG, spoke to a group about explosion zones for hazardous substances: "Identifying risks is not easy," said Wittmann, but he also showed the participants ways and methods of fulfilling their responsibilities in the best possible way. Christoph Blülle from Maagtechnic AG and Johanna Hühn from KCL GmbH addressed the range of gloves against chemicals in Ex zones. "Not every protective glove is suitable for every chemical," emphasised Hühn.

A workshop also provided space for the participants' very individual questions. Matthias Mettke, conference chair and dangerous goods and hazardous substances expert at Swiss TS, answered questions and concerns from the floor: when does a product have to be notified to the FOPH; do we also need an SDS with new labelling for products that have already been used; are we still subject to the Major Accidents Ordinance; are we allowed to rewrite and add to an SDS ourselves; what is sensible and what is the law; can pictograms also just be black and where is the best place to keep an SDS?

Information and advice
These and many other questions were discussed in detail and sometimes controversially. They made it clear that dealing with hazardous substances requires regular information and, in many cases, competent advice. For this reason, too, one can already look forward to the next, 6th Hazardous Substances Day Switzerland. It will take place on 10 November 2016. The programme will be available from summer 2016 at www.gefahrstofftag.ch.