Product category:
Safety and ventilation equipment
News Release from: Environmental Science | Subject: Wasps
Edited by the Laboratorytalk Editorial
Team on 09 March 2004
Chemical safety made easier
Document does not replace the full Safety Data Sheet, but does provide a visual summary of essential information alerting workers to potential hazards and safety actions
A new safety programme for use in the workplace has been introduced by Environmental Science, so that everybody can pick up the safety message at a glance This single-page information presentation is called Wasps workplace action safety protection sheet
This article was originally published on Laboratorytalk on 7 Nov 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Communicating hazard information to the workforce
A simpler form of document to augment the familiar SDS, which may be too complex and too inaccessible for some situations
Reach for Wasps to avoid being stung
The Workplace Action Safety Protection Sheet (Wasp sheet) is a cost-effective communications tool for Reach, because it plugs the gap between the scientifically expressed SDS and most of the workforce
The presentation uses a mixture of pictograms and colours for each chemical in a way that is easy to understand.
The sheets are supplied in transparent, laminated sleeves for durability.
They can be fixed to machines or workstations for immediate display and operational safety reminders.
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for chemical products have been around for years.
Manufacturers/suppliers have to provide and distribute them by law.
Generally, they consist of several pages of text and technical information.
This makes them difficult to understand by the layman and can lead them to being filed until an accident occurs.
The Wasps document does not attempt to replace the full Safety Data Sheet but it does provide workers with a visual summary of essential information alerting them to potential hazards and safety actions.
Today, many chemical products originate from outside Europe and, as such, the data provided fall short of the standards set by authorities in the UK and the European Union.
Whereas entry to the process shown below can be made at any stage, it is wise to have the basic information checked first.
If the safety information as supplied is wrong, subsequent steps will be valueless.
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