22 Spray February 2016 Steven CharleS hunt President, ShipMate, Inc. From here to there: Topics in Transportation GHS Creates Aerosol “Fog” I’ve heard many comments regarding the transition to the new U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard which adopts, in part, the provisions of Revision 3 of the Globally Harmonized System for the Classification & Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The most common is that “…GHS is neither Global nor Harmonized.” Lately, it appears that there are a lot more folks that are confused by these “new” rules, despite the fact that they were published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2012. I think the latest round of confusion is because the third major deadline has recently passed. Major Milestones OSHA’s first major implementation milestone was Dec. 1, 2012, when it required all employers to provide the Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom 2012) training to all employees. The intent of that milestone was to introduce the GHS concept and to begin building a foundation for the new safety standard. The second major hurdle was reached when on June 1, 2015, OSHA required that all Safety Data Sheets (SDS) conform to the newly revised standards in 29 CFR 1910.1200 (g). This milestone required all manufacturers to make available SDS that conformed to the 16-part standard that includes the shipping descriptions for all modes of transport listed in Section 14 (Transportation Information). The third and most recent milestone was the Product Labeling requirements which mandated that all chemicals shipped after that date conform to the provisions of GHS Revision 3 that were adopted by OSHA and incorporated into the Hazard Communication Standard. Confusion This lengthy transition period, coupled with mixed signals from industry and regulators, confusion between the requirements for product labeling marking and the U.S. Dept of Transportation (DOT) marking and labeling, have created a “fog,” particularly with respect to aerosols, many of which are subject to additional requirements for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (e.g., household and personal care products). Adding to this confusion is a general lack of understanding, by the regulated industry as a whole, as to which revision of GHS we should be following. For example, GHS Revision 3 does not include provisions for non-flammable aerosols, whereas Revision 5 does. The latest (and soon to be published) update to GHS, Revision 6, will carry over these same provisions for non-flammable aerosols. Yet, when queried, OSHA insists that it is still working from Revision 3 and has no immediate plans to adopt Revisions 5 or 6, even though I was told that a rulemaking was “forthcoming.” What does this have to do with transportation? First, this lack of clarity affects the flow of goods from manufacturer and distributor to the consumer. Shippers have been experiencing frustrated shipments; many are the result of printing product labels that do not conform to the requirements of the GHS standard or the requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Just recently, a potential client called me in a panic—they have an inventory of almost 70,000 aerosol cans that cannot be distributed because of a minor printing error. What should they do? Second, shippers and distributors are not sure what pictograms and labels should go on the inner receptacles and what should be applied to the outside of the transportation case. I will attempt to clarify what I believe the requirements to be and offer suggestions on how to “harmonize” these requirements. I will forewarn you that this detailed discussion might invite considerable debate, so I will ask that you read carefully and participate in the discussion by offering comments. Some of the information I may pass along to you may appear to be in contradiction to what you may believe or may have heard. Here goes… Classification With respect to the classification and marking of aerosols, it is my opinion that aerosols should not be classified as compressed or liquefied gases, except when the aerosol is actually a gas (e.g., dusters, canned refrigerants, air horns, etc.). Rather, you should classify them according to the provisions outlined in Appendix B.3 of the HazCom2012 standard, which is con
Spray February 2016
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