The New Organisms and Hazardous Substances Act 1996
As of the 1st of July 2006 substances previously covered by
the old toxic substances act are now covered by the Hazardous
Substances and New Organisms Act. This means that these hazardous
substances (including flammable or toxic chemicals) will move to an
alternative form of hazardous substance approval, called
Group Standards. Please note that companies and individuals will not
be expected to comply with all requirements of the Act on the 1st
of July 2006, as the new Act will be implemented in stages (see below for
dates of implementation).
IMPORTING OR MANUFACTURING HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
The import or manufacture of a new hazardous substance for uses other
than research and development or laboratory use requires an approval
under the HSNO Act. An approval for a Group
Standard is an approval under the HSNO Act for
a group of hazardous substances of a similar nature or type, or having
similar circumstances of use. The risk of substances in each Group
Standard is managed by a single set of conditions, rather than by the
controls set out in HSNO regulations.
CONTROLS ON HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
Anyone involved with hazardous substances needs
to know about controls on different hazardous substances, so they can use
them safely. Non-compliance is an offence under the Act.
If the hazardous substance you are dealing with is covered by a Group
Standard, there will be a set of conditions that all users must comply
with.
Conditions bring together the control requirements for Group Standards in
a more user-friendly manner. A substance is given a hazard classification
that reflects how dangerous it is.
The Hazard classification scheme is based on the six hazardous property
areas set out in the HSNO Act, which are
-
explosiveness
-
flammability
-
oxidising ability
-
corrosiveness
-
toxicity (poisonous to people)
-
and ecotoxicity (poisonous to the
environment).
Depending on its hazard classification a substance covered by a group
standard will have a set of controls assigned to it. If you are storing a
hazardous substance, the controls on that substance will tell you how to
store it, how to make sure it doesn’t escape, how to protect your workers
and how to make sure those working with the substance are properly
qualified.
The HSNO regulations prescribe only the
objective that must be met, not how it must be met. Users of hazardous
substances can then decide how they will meet the objective. This way the
required outcome is clear, and users are able to use new technologies to
meet the requirements.
ERMA New Zealand can approve codes of practice, which set out pre-tested
ways of meeting a performance requirement specified in a regulation or an
approval.
TEST CERTIFICATES are documents that show that a system, equipment or
person meets the requirements for safe use of a hazardous substance,
through compliance with the controls or conditions placed on that
substance.
Test certificates are issued by specially qualified test certifiers to
certify
-
Approved handlers of certain restricted hazardous substances
-
Approved fillers of compressed gases into cylinders
-
Specific facilities, locations or equipment for handling, storing or
transporting certain hazardous substances
-
Stationary container systems (tank systems)
ERMA New Zealand has a register of test certifiers available from its
office or website. You can search for a test certifier by region and by
type of test certificate.
HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU
-
Everyone must comply with the controls on the specific hazardous
properties of each substance.
-
Everyone must have the right documentation and certification for the
substances they deal with.
-
Information will be supplied with each hazardous substance that helps
people to safely manage it. This information must remain with the
substance and continue to be readable.
-
Everyone needs to be prepared for an emergency should one occur.
-
Hazardous substances should be packaged and disposed of in the correct
manner.
IMPORTANT - If a staff member commits an offence, the
employer/manager may also be PROSECUTED if they have not taken reasonable
steps to make sure that controls have been complied with
PENALTIES FOR BREACHING THE HSNO ACT
ARE FINES OF UP TO $500,000 (AND $50,000 A DAY FOR CONTINUING OFFENCES),
OR UP TO THREE MONTH’S IMPRISONMENT.
Employers and principals can be liable for offences by their
employees, and directors and managers of corporate bodies can also be
liable.
We suggest that you read the information available on the
the ERMA website if your company deals with hazardous substances to
make sure that you, your company and your employees comply with the
requirements of the HSNO Act.
IMPLEMENTATION
The requirements of the new act will be implemented in stages so that
those who are already compliant with existing legal requirements can
progressively implement the conditions of the group standards.
Critical dates for staged implementation-
1 July 2006
NOTS transferred to HSNO
. (see below for a description of
NOTS)
Six month period commences before any group standard conditions apply.
Persons continue to comply with current regulatory requirements
1 January 2007
Approved handler test certificates required (either
deemed1 or full five year
certificate)2
Compliance required with all group standard conditions, with the
exception of conditions for:
-
Test certificates for hazardous substance
locations2
-
Stationary bulk container systems
-
Emergency
management2
-
Signage2
-
Labelling, safety data sheets and packaging
1 July 2007
Compliance required with emergency management
conditions2 (fire
extinguishers, response plans and secondary
containment)
1 January 2008
Test certificates required for hazardous substance
location2
1 July 2008
Report required from test certifier for existing stationary bulk container
systems
Compliance required with conditions for:
-
Labelling 3,4
-
Safety data sheets
-
Signage2
-
Packaging
1 January 2009
Full 5 year approved handler test certificate required
1 July 2009
Test certificate required for existing stationary bulk container systems
31 December 2010
Product labels are compliant to this date if they comply with the
labelling requirements of Europe, Australia,
USA or Canada4
1. A person with two years’ experience in handling hazardous
substances can deem themselves as an approved handler to 31 December 2008
.
2. Staged implementation provisions may not apply for approved handler
test certificates, location test certificates, emergency management and
signage if Group Standards: Additional Consultation (April 2006) 22
compliance is already required for a similar class of hazardous substance
(see section‘If existing
HSNO Provisions Apply’).
3. Other than for substances that comply with the
labelling requirements of Europe, Australia, USA or Canada.
4. A group standard condition proposes that a 4 year period be allowed
for compliance with labelling, provided that
the product labels comply with the regulatory requirements for
labelling that apply in these countries. This provision will apply to
new products as well as NOTS.
What are NOTS?
Prior to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (
HSNO) Act 1996, toxic substances were regulated by the Toxic
Substances Act 1979. Section 32 of the Toxic Substances Act required any
person who intended to import or manufacture a toxic substance to notify
the formulation of the substance. These became known as
NOTS (notified toxic substances). The notification was originally to
the Ministry of Health, but later the notifications were processed by ERMA
New Zealand.
When the HSNO Act was passed, transitional
provisions gave substances which had been notified under Section 32 of the
Toxic Substances Act (i.e. NOTS) transitional
status under HSNO. As a result of this
transitional status, importers or manufacturers continued to notify
substances up until 2 July 2001, when the hazardous substances part of the
HSNO Act came into force. At this time, the Toxic Substances Act was
repealed.
As a result of the notification process, a large number of substances
(including formulated mixtures) are known to be in New Zealand (or to have
been intended to be brought into New Zealand). It is these substances that
require transfer to the main framework of the HSNO
Act, in order to give them an approval under HSNO
.
Any hazardous substances that were introduced or manufactured in New
Zealand after 2 July 2001 are not covered by the transitional provisions
of the HSNO Act. For such substances to be
lawfully present in New Zealand, they must either:
(i) be the same as
a substance that was already in New Zealand and which had transitional
status (i.e. a NOTS), or
(ii) have a HSNO
approval as a result of an application under the HSNO
Act (a Part V approval).
If you believe your company needs to comply with requirements
under the HSNO Act, you can find out more by
visiting the ERMA
website, or calling them on 0800 376 234 for general information on
compliance with requirements for hazardous substances.
For more information, see
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