The Explosive Substances (Hazard Information) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Explosive Substances (Hazard Information) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into force on 31st July 2000.

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 to the United Kingdom by the European Economic Area Act 1993(2);

“approved classification and labelling guide” means the guide approved by the Secretary of State and published by the Health and Safety Commission entitled “Approved Guide to the Classification and Labelling of Substances and Preparations Dangerous for Supply (3rd Edition)”;

“approved supply list” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 4;

“category of danger” means, in relation to a substance 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 dangerous for supply, classification in accordance with regulation 5;

“commercial sample” means, in relation to a substance dangerous for supply, a sample of that substance 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;

“EC 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 EC number (if any) specified in column 3 of Part V of that list; or

(b)

in the case of a substance that is not included in the approved supply list or for which an EC 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);

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

“explosive substance” means—

(a)

a solid or liquid substance, or

(b)

a mixture of solid or liquid substances or both,

which is capable by chemical reaction in itself of producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such a speed as could cause damage to surroundings or which is designed to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas or smoke or a combination of these as a result of non-detonative self-sustaining exothermic chemical reactions;

“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 of the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(4);

“the Health and Safety Commission” means the Health and Safety Commission established under section 10 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974(5);

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

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

(a)

a substance dangerous for supply listed in the approved supply list, it is one or more indications of danger specified by a symbol-letter in the list; or

(b)

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

“member State” means a State which is a Contracting Party to the Agreement;

“package” means, in relation to a substance dangerous for supply, the package in which it is supplied and which is liable to be individually handled during the course of the supply and includes the receptacle containing the substance and any other packaging associated with it and any pallet or other device which enables more than one receptacle containing a substance 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 dangerous for supply, 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;

“property” means, in relation to a substance 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 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 dangerous for supply, a phrase listed in the approved supply list and in these Regulations a specific risk phrase 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 dangerous for supply, a phrase listed in the approved supply list and in these Regulations a specific safety phrase 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 on which the safety phrase is required to be shown;

“substance” means a chemical element and its 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 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 Part I of Schedule 1;

“supplier” means a person who supplies a substance 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 Northern Ireland, of that substance or preparation;

“supply” in relation to a substance—

(a)

means, subject to sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) below, supply of that substance 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, whether as principal or agent for another;

(b)

in relation to regulation 7 shall have the meaning assigned to it by regulation 7(2);

“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 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) These Regulations are without prejudice to any other requirement imposed by or under any statutory provision which relates to a substance dangerous for supply.

Application

3.  These Regulations shall apply to any substance which is dangerous for supply and to which the Explosives Acts (Northern Ireland) 1875 to 1970(6) apply, except—

(a) munitions which are supplied with a view to producing a practical effect by explosion or a pyrotechnic effect;

(b) a substance which is under customs control;

(c) subject to Council Regulations EC 2455/92(7) on the export notification and information exchange of dangerous substances, a substance which is intended for export to a country which is not a member State;

(d) a substance which is transferred from a factory, warehouse or other place of work and its curtilage to another place of work in the same ownership and in the immediate vicinity; or

(e) substances in the form of wastes which are covered by Council Directives 91/156/EEC(8) and 91/689/EEC(9).

Meaning of the approved supply list

4.  In these Regulations the “approved supply list” means the document approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of these Regulations and—

(a) entitled “Information Approved for the Classification and Labelling of Substances and Preparations Dangerous for Supply (4th Edition)” published by the Health and Safety Commission;

(b) as revised by the document entitled the “Approved Supply List Supplement ” published by the Health and Safety Commission.

Classification of substances dangerous for supply

5.—(1) A supplier shall not supply a substance dangerous for supply, unless it has been classified in accordance with the following paragraphs of this regulation.

(2) The classification of a substance which is listed in the approved supply list shall be the classification for that substance specified in the list.

(3) In the case of any other substance dangerous for supply, after an investigation to become aware of relevant and accessible data which may exist, the substance shall be classified by placing it into one or more of the categories of danger specified in column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1 corresponding to the properties of the substance specified in the entry opposite it in column 2 and by assigning appropriate risk phrases by the use of the criteria set out in the approved classification and labelling guide.

Safety data sheets for substances dangerous for supply

6.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (5), the supplier of a substance dangerous for supply shall provide the recipient of that substance with a safety data sheet containing information under the headings specified in Schedule 3 to enable the recipient of that substance to take the necessary measures relating to the protection of health and safety at work and relating to the protection of the environment and the safety data sheet shall clearly show its date of first publication or latest revision, as the case may be.

(2) In this regulation “supply” shall not include supply by way of—

(a) offer for sale;

(b) transfer from a factory, warehouse or other place of work and its curtilage to another place of work in the same ownership; or

(c) returning substances to the person who supplied them, providing that the properties of that substance remain unchanged.

(3) The supplier shall keep the safety data sheet up to date and revise it immediately if any significant new information becomes available regarding safety or risks to human health or the protection of the environment in relation to the substance concerned and the revised safety data sheet shall be clearly marked with the word “revision”.

(4) Except in circumstances to which paragraph (5) relates, the safety data sheet shall be provided free of charge no later than the date on which the substance is first supplied to the recipient and where the safety data sheet has been revised in accordance with paragraph (3), a copy of the revised safety data sheet shall be provided free of charge to all recipients who have received the substance in the last 12 months and the changes in it shall be brought to their notice.

(5) In relation to a substance dangerous for supply a safety data sheet shall be provided free of charge at the request of persons who intend the substance to be used at work, but in those circumstances paragraph (4) (in so far as it relates to the subsequent provision of a revised data sheet) shall not apply to such requests.

(6) The particulars required to be given in a safety data sheet shall be in English, except that where a substance is intended to be supplied to a recipient in another member State, the safety data sheet may be in an official language of that State.

Advertisements for substances dangerous for supply

7.—(1) A person who supplies or offers to supply a substance dangerous for supply shall ensure that the substance is not advertised unless mention is made in the advertisement of the hazard or hazards presented by the substance.

(2) In this regulation the word “supply” has the same meaning as in Article 3 of the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987(10).

Retention of classification data for substances dangerous for supply

8.  A person who classifies a substance in accordance with regulation 5(3) shall keep a record of the information used for the purposes of classifying it for at least 3 years after the date on which the substance was supplied by him for the last time and shall make the record or a copy of it available to the appropriate enforcing authority at its request.

Exemption certificates

9.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and to any of the provisions imposed by the Community in respect of the free movement of dangerous substances, the Secretary of State may, by a certificate in writing, exempt any person or class of persons or substance to which these Regulations apply, or class of such substances, from all or any of the requirements or prohibitions imposed by or under these Regulations and any such exemption may be granted subject to conditions and to a limit of time and may be revoked at any time by a certificate in writing.

(2) The Secretary of State shall not grant any such exemption unless, having regard to the circumstances of the case, and in particular to—

(a) the conditions, if any, which he proposes to attach to the exemption; and

(b) any requirements imposed by or under any enactments which apply to the case,

he is satisfied that the health or safety of persons who are likely to be affected by the exemption will not be prejudiced in consequence of it.

Enforcement and defence

10.—(1) (a) the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978(11) which relate to the approval of codes of practice and their use in criminal proceedings, to enforcement and to offences; and

(b) Article 43(2) of that Order

shall apply to the provisions of regulations 5 to 8 as if those provisions had been made under Article 17 of that Order whether or not the provisions of that Order would apply but for this paragraph.

(2) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations, it shall be a defence for any person to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of that offence.

Amendment of Regulations

11.  The Construction (Use of Explosives) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(12) shall be amended in accordance with Schedule 4.

Peter Mandelson

One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State

Northern Ireland Office

12th June 2000