Hazardous materials or chemicals require a register if onsite & a current Safety Data Sheet each chemical is needed to be kept with the register. All employees are to be aware of this register and where it is accessed. Manufacturers by Australian legislation are to have their SDS’ updated every 5 years.
All hazardous chemicals that are stored, handled or used at the workplace must be listed on the register except where they are:
- in-transit, or
- consumer products.
In transit hazardous chemicals are classified due to not being stored in the workplace for more than 5 consecutive days, though if large quantities than should be listed on the register.
Consumer products are those that are packed primarily for use by a household consumer and are used in a manner consistent with normal household use. For example, laundry detergent packed in a 1 kg container and used once a week by individual staff for washing work clothes is considered a consumer product and would not need to be included on the register. However, a 30 kg container of the same detergent used by a commercial laundering business is not considered to be a consumer product, and therefore must be included on the register.
A manifest is required only where hazardous chemicals that are dangerous goods are present at the workplace and where their quantities exceed specified threshold amounts.
A manifest is different to a register, and is intended primarily for emergency services personnel to use where they are required to respond to an emergency situation at the workplace. A manifest is required to contain additional information about hazardous chemicals at the workplace than is in a register, including the hazard classes and categories of the hazardous chemicals and details of the type, size and locations of containers present at the workplace.