Compliance

Material Safety Data Sheets are documents that contain details on the composition, safety, handling, storage,disposal and transport of a material, and other regulatory information. They are intended to provide guidance on handling or working with a product in a safe manner. In the UK they are routinely used in performing risk assessments for chemicals or other products used in a working environment, in compliance with COSSH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) regulations.
Sections included in a Material Safety Data Sheet
Material Safety Data Sheets provided by Alliance UK to customers in the UK and Europe are commonly divided in to sections containing information as detailed below:
1.Product and Company Information
2.Hazard Identification
3.Composition and Information on Ingredients
4.First Aid Measures
5.Fire Fighting Measures
6.Accidental Release Measures
7.Handling and Storage
8.Exposure Controls and Personal Protection
9.Physical and Chemical Properties
10.Stability and Reactivity
11.Toxicological Information
12.Ecological Information
13.Disposal Considerations
14.Transport Information
15.Regulatory Information
16.Other Information

COSHH is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health. You can prevent or reduce workers' exposure to hazardous substances by:
- finding out what the health hazards are
- deciding how to prevent harm to health (assessment)
- providing control measures to reduce harm to health
- making sure they are used
- keeping all control measures in good working order
- providing information, instruction and training for employees and others
- providing monitoring and health surveillance in appropriate cases
- planning for emergencies
Our MSDS's are not to be confused with a COSHH sheet. As an end user it is your legal responsibility to provide COSHH data. Whilst most of this data can be found on our MSDS these documents are not in themselves COSHH sheets.

CHIP - Chemicals (Hazard Information & Packaging for Supply) Regulations
CHIP requires manufacturers/suppliers to inform and advise end users of the possible hazards or dangers associated with their range of chemical substances in order that the customer is fully aware, can make an informed choice and can accurately assess the potential risks.
Most people are familiar with CHIP (whether they know it or not) as a result of the orange and black warning symbols commonly seen on chemical packaging.
Another component part of the CHIP Regulations are risk phrases such as "Irritating to eyes & skin" and safety phrases such as "Keep out of reach of children"
CHIP is being replaced by the European CLP Regulation and will be revoked from 1 June 2015.
The CLP Regulation
The CLP Regulation European Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures came into force on 20 January 2009 in all EU Member States, including the UK.
It is known by its abbreviated form, ‘the CLP Regulation’ or just plain ‘CLP’. The CLP Regulation adopts the United Nations’ Globally Harmonised System on the classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS) across all European Union countries, including the UK.
As GHS is a voluntary agreement rather than a law, it has to be adopted through a suitable national or regional legal mechanism to ensure it becomes legally binding. That’s what the CLP Regulation does. As GHS was heavily influenced by the old EU system, the CLP Regulation is very similar in many ways. The duties on suppliers are broadly the same: classification, labelling and packaging. The existing legislation on classification, labelling and packaging has been agreed at European Union level and, from 2015, will be directly applied on all EU member states, including the UK. The rules they have to follow when they are classifying will change though, and a new set of hazard pictograms.

REACH is a European Community Regulation which went live on 1st June 2007. It covers chemicals and their safe use and stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances
The regulation requires the registration of substances (these are the raw materials that are blended to produce the finished products we sell to our customers). This regulation does not require the registration of finished products that we manufacture.
The initial pre-registration phase is completed and substance manufacturers have/will be forming SIEF’s (Substances Information Exchange Forums) in order that over the forthcoming months and years they will exchange information so registration dossiers can be completed and submitted.
REACH requires changes to Safety Data Sheets (SDS’s) and where required we have and will continue to make these necessary changes.
REACH requires Chemical Safety Reports and Exposure Scenarios to be written for materials and where appropriate we will include this information in its SDS’s in due course.

A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in the process of carrying out the work you do, could cause harm to people, so that you can evaluate whether you have taken sufficient precautions or should do more to prevent harm. Workers and others have a legal right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures.
Accidents and ill health can ruin lives and affect your business too if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase or you have to go to court. You are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace so that you put in place a plan to control the risks.
Whilst we may supply some or all of the tools you use to carry out the work you do, we are only able to provide you with information about those tools in order to inform your risk assessment. We cannot legally carry out a completed risk assessment covering their application on your behalf.

Method statements are not specifically required by law but are seen by many as being an example of “best practice” and are commonly used as the next logical step to risk assessment.
A method statement describes in a logical sequence exactly how a job is to be carried out in a safe manner and without risks to health, including all the risks identified in the risk assessment and the measures needed to control those risks. This allows for all employees to be clear as to how a specific process should be carried out.
Method statements are often used as the base starting point for new employee training.

Chemical Technical Information Sheets (TIS), Machine specifications and machine operating instructions can be found on the relevant product page. Click on the "Downloads" tab near the detailed product description.

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require that any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury is maintained in a safe condition. However, the Regulations do not specify what needs to be done, by whom or how frequently (i.e. they don't make inspection or testing of electrical appliances a legal requirement, nor do they make it a legal requirement to undertake this annually).
It is a commonly held misconception that portable appliance testing is a legal requirement which, as described above, is not the case. It is however, the most commonly used form of testing used by employers to ensure that the electrical equipment used by their employees is safe and compliant with the law.
Portable appliance testing encompasses regular visual checks to ensure that equipment is in safe working order along with more formal tests carried out by an appointed competent person at periodic intervals.