On 12th October 2019, China Chemical Safety Association (CCSA) issued a notice [1] to seek public feedback on the draft of the Guideline of Safety Management for Chemical Laboratories, which is an association standard formulated by CCSA. (See more about Association Standard at bottom.) The consultation will end on 12th November 2019.
The Guidelines stipulate the safety management specification for chemical laboratories to provide the basis for establishing a standardized safety management system. Requirements involving personnel management, chemical management, instrument/equipment management, facility management, environmental management, risk identification assessment and control, and emergency management, etc. are set in the Guideline. By highlighting hazard identification and risk assessment, the Guideline emphasizes prevention and control.
In addition to chemical laboratories in colleges, universities and research institutes, the chemical laboratories of enterprises and public experimental platforms should also comply with the standard. This means that for the enterprises with a laboratory or an assay room, the conditions of these workplaces must meet relevant requirements articulated within the standard. Additionally, the new standard will help enterprises select reliable laboratory partners to conduct 3rd party testing.
The Guidelines were formulated based on existing domestic regulations and standards, and reference overseas regulations. There are elements of GB 30000 [2] for chemical management and GBZ 2 [3] for environmental management. The use of SDS and labeling for chemicals are also emphasized in these Guidelines.
What is the Association Standard? |
According to the Standardization Law of the People’s Republic of China, the association standards are formulated by societies, associations, chambers of commerce, federations, industrial technology alliances, and other social organizations and shall be adopted by their members. Also, there are association standards like the one we report here, are made publicly available for voluntary adoption by others. It is worth noting that the technical requirements of association standards must not be less strict than relevant technical requirements of mandatory national standards. By the way, now there are over 300 members in CCSA, including China National Petroleum Corporation, Sinopec Group and so on. (REACH24H is also the member of CCSA.) CCSA has also participated in the formulation or revision of many China chemical management regulations, such as Regulations on the Control over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals and some relevant national standards, etc. (from: CCSA website) |
