Copied from:
AlAfghani, MM and Paramita D, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Phasing-Out Regulation in Indonesia, Final Report. All rights reserved.
Indonesia has adopted the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, also known as the GHS system.It aims to globally unify the rules to classifyhazards and provide same format and content for labels and safety data sheets (SDs).GHS defines and classifies the hazard of chemical productsand communicates information regarding health and safety information through labels and SDs 75 . For the classification, GHS applies to pure substance, as well as theirdiluted solutions and mixtures. GHS is a non-binding rule but since it is important to unify the system, most of the countries have implemented it, including Indonesia.
The two main features of GHS are:
- Classification of the hazard of chemicals is based on the GHS rules. In this case, the GHS systemprovides guidance to classify pure chemicals and mixtures according to its criteria or rules.
- Communication of the hazards and precautionary information using SDs andlabels.
There are three major hazard groups based on the system as follows76:
- Physical hazards. The classes within the physical hazards are: explosives, flammable gases, aerosols, oxidizing gases, gases under pressure, flammable liquids, flammable solids, self-reactive substances and mixtures, pyrophoric liquids, pyrophoric solids, self-heating substances and mixtures, substances and mixtures that emit flammable gasses when in contact with water, oxidizing liquids, oxidizing solids, organic peroxides, and metal corrosives.
- Health hazards. The classes within the health hazard groups are: acute toxicity, skin corrosion/irritation, serious eye damage/eye irritation, respiratory or skin sensitization, germ cell mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, specific target organ toxicity (singe exposure), specific target organ toxicity (repeated exposure) and aspiration hazards.
- Environmental hazards. The classes within the environmental hazards are: hazardous to the aquatic environment (acute and chronic), hazardous to ozone layer.
GHS is a non-binding rule but since it is important to unify the system, most of the countries have implemented it, including Indonesia. To implement the GHS system, the Indonesian government has enacted some regulations as follows:
- Minister of Industry Regulation No. 87/M-IND/PER/9/2009 on Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals;
- Minister of Industry Regulation No. 23/M-IND/PER/4/2013 on the amendment of Minister of Industry Regulation No. 87/M-IND/PER/9/2009;
- Director General Industry Agro and Chemical Regulation No. 21/IAK/PER/4/2010 on the Technical Guideline on the Implementation of GHS;
- Director General of Industry and Manufacture Based Regulation No. 04/BIM/PER/1/2014 on the Technical Guideline and Implementation of GHS.
--------------------
75 http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/ghs.html
76 Ibid