The Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 1994

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

“aerosol dispenser” means an article which consists of a non-reusable receptacle containing a gas compressed, liquefied or dissolved under pressure, with or without liquid, paste or powder and fitted with a release device allowing the contents to be ejected as solid or liquid particles in suspension in a gas, as a foam, paste or powder or in a liquid state;

“the Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993(1) and adopted as respects the United Kingdom by the European Economic Area Act 1993(2);

“approved classification and labelling guide” means the guide entitled “Approved Guide to the Classification and Labelling of Substances and Preparations Dangerous for Supply (2nd Edition)” approved by the Health and Safety Commission on 18th October 1994 for the purposes of these Regulations;

“approved supply list” means the list described in regulation 4;

“category of danger” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, one of the categories of danger specified in column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1;

“classification” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, classification in accordance with regulation 5;

“commercial sample” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, a sample of that substance or preparation provided to the recipient with a view to subsequent purchase;

“the Community” means the European Economic Community and other States in the European Economic Area;

“concentration limits” means, in relation to a substance dangerous for supply, the concentration limits for the substance (if any) specified in column 4 of Part V of the approved supply list or, where that substance is not listed in the approved supply list or appears in it without specified concentration limits, it means the concentration limits for that substance ascertained from Part II of Schedule 3;

“EEC number” means, in relation to a substance dangerous for supply—

(a)

in the case of a substance that is included in the approved supply list, the number (if any) specified in column 3 of Part V of that list;

(b)

in the case of a substance that is not included in the approved supply list or for which an EEC number is not given in Part V of that list, the number for that substance (if any) specified in the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (EINECS)(3); or

(c)

in the case of a substance that is a new substance within the meaning of regulation 2(1) of the Notification of New Substances Regulations 1993(4), the number for that substance (if any) listed in the European List of Notified Chemical Substances (ELINCS)(5);

“the European Economic Area” means the Area referred to in the Agreement;

“the Executive” means the Health and Safety Executive;

“flash point” means the flash point determined in accordance with Part III of Schedule 1;

“freight container” means a container as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 1984(6);

“index number” means, in relation to a substance dangerous for supply which appears in Part I of the approved supply list, the number for that substance specified in column 2 of that Part;

“indication of danger” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, one or more of the indications of danger referred to in column 1 of Schedule 2 and—

(a)

in the case of a substance dangerous for supply listed in Part I of the approved supply list, it is one or more indications of danger for that substance specified by a symbol-letter in column 3 of Part V of that list; or

(b)

in the case of a substance dangerous for supply not so listed or a preparation dangerous for supply, it is one or more indications of danger determined in accordance with the classification of that substance or preparation under regulation 5 and the approved classification and labelling guide;

“member State” means a State which is a Contracting Party to the Agreement, but until the Agreement comes into force in relation to Liechtenstein does not include the State of Liechtenstein;

“package” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, the package in which the substance or preparation is supplied and which is liable to be individually handled during the course of the supply and includes the receptacle containing the substance or preparation and any other packaging associated with it and any pallet or other device which enables more than one receptacle containing a substance or preparation dangerous for supply to be handled as a unit, but does not include—

(a)

a freight container (other than a tank container), a skip, a vehicle or other article of transport equipment; or

(b)

in the case of supply by way of retail sale, any wrapping such as a paper or plastic bag into which the package is placed when it is presented to the purchaser;

“packaging” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, as the context may require, the receptacle, or any components, materials or wrappings associated with the receptacle for the purpose of enabling it to perform its containment function or both;

“pesticide” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 4;

“poisons advisory centre” means a body approved for the time being for the purposes of regulation 14 by the Secretary of State for Health in consultation with the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales, the Health and Safety Commission and such other persons or bodies as appear to her to be appropriate;

“preparations” means mixtures or solutions of two or more substances;

“preparation dangerous for supply” means a preparation which is in one or more of the categories of danger specified in column 1 of Schedule 1;

“property” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, a property described in column 2 of Part I of Schedule 1 and further described in the approved classification and labelling guide;

“receptacle” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, a vessel, or the innermost layer of packaging, which is in contact with the substance and which is liable to be individually handled when the substance is used and includes any closure or fastener;

“risk phrase” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, a phrase listed in Part III of the approved supply list and in these Regulations specific risk phrases may be designated by the letter “R” followed by a distinguishing number or combination of numbers but the risk phrase shall be quoted in full on any label or safety data sheet on which the risk phrase is required to be shown;

“safety phrase” means, in relation to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, a phrase listed in Part IV of the approved supply list and in these Regulations specific safety phrases may be designated by the letter “S” followed by a distinguishing number or combination of numbers, but the safety phrase shall be quoted in full on any label or safety data sheet in which the safety phrase is required to be shown;

“substances” means chemical elements and their compounds in the natural state or obtained by any production process, including any additive necessary to preserve the stability of the product and any impurity deriving from the process used, but excluding any solvent which may be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition;

“substance dangerous for supply” means—

(a)

a substance listed in Part I of the approved supply list; or

(b)

any other substance which is in one or more of the categories of danger specified in column 1 of Schedule 1;

“supplier” means a person who supplies a substance or preparation dangerous for supply, and in the case of a substance which is imported (whether or not from a member State) includes the importer established in Great Britain of that substance or preparation;

“supply” in relation to a substance or preparation—

(a)

means, subject to sub-paragraph (b) and (c) below, supply of that substance or preparation, whether as principal or agent for another, in the course of or for use at work, by way of—

(i)

sale or offer for sale,

(ii)

commercial sample, or

(iii)

transfer from a factory, warehouse or other place of work and its curtilage to another place of work, whether or not in the same ownership;

(b)

for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of regulation 16(2), except in relation to regulations 7 and 12, in any case for which by virtue of those sub-paragraphs the enforcing authority for these Regulations is the Royal Pharmaceutical Society or the local weights and measures authority, has the meaning assigned to it by section 46 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987(7) and also includes offer to supply and expose for supply; or

(c)

in relation to regulations 7 and 12 shall have the meaning assigned to it by regulations 7(2) and 12(12) respectively;

“symbol” means the symbol shown in column 3 of Schedule 2 for the indication of danger shown in column 1 of that Schedule, and “symbol-letter” means the letter shown in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that Schedule.

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, where in these Regulations reference is made to a quantity of a substance or preparation dangerous for supply expressed in litres, that reference shall mean—

(a) in the case of a liquid, the volume in litres of that liquid;

(b) in the case of a gas, the volume in litres of the receptacle containing that gas; and

(c) in the case of a solid, the same number of kilograms of that solid,

and for the purposes of aggregation, one kilogram of a solid shall be deemed to be equivalent to one litre of a liquid or gas.

(3) Subject to regulation 19, nothing in these Regulations shall prejudice any other requirement imposed by or under any enactment which relates to a substance or preparation dangerous for supply.

(4) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to—

(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered; and

(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation or Schedule in which the reference appears.

(1)

The Agreement was amended by Decision 7/94 of the EEA Joint Committee of 21st March 1994 (OJ No. L 160, 28.6.94, p. 1). There are other amendments to the Agreement which are not relevant to these Regulations.

(2)

1993 c. 51.

(3)

OJ No. C 146A, 15.6.90, p. 1.

(4)

S.I. 1993/3050.

(5)

OJ No. C 139, 29.5.91, p. 1.

(6)

S.I. 1984/1890.

(7)

1987 c. 43.