​Consultations

• Minor amendments to the Hazardous Substances Regulations 
• Adoption of the Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labelling (GHS) 

HS Regulations

• HASANZ project
• Storage of toxic and corrosive hazardous substances
• Hazardous waste policy clarification
• Tubepress / Europress – update 
• Signage guidance
• Certified handler full legal name requirements

Administrative

• Exemption application forms

This our last update for 2019. It has been an interesting year to say the least! A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all the Hazardous Substances Team.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) are proposing a number of minor amendments to the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017.

You may be interested in these changes if your work involves the storage or handling of toxic or corrosive chemicals, storing LPG, paints or other flammable liquids, or diesel tank systems.

The consultation process opened on late November and closes at 5pm on Wednesday 15 January 2020. The document can be accessed on MBIE's website, and submissions are made by emailing HSWregs@mbie.govt.nz. 

The EPA is proposing to align New Zealand's chemical classification and labelling system by updating to the latest version of the Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labelling (revision 7).

Benefits include the reduction of complexity, facilitation of trade and improving the effectiveness of the HSNO Act. The consultation information is available on the EPA website and the process closes at 5pm on Thursday 9 January 2020.

The Health and Safety Association of New Zealand (HASANZ) recently published an in-depth review of capacity, capability and demand within New Zealand’s health and safety workforce. 

The report highlights challenges facing the workforce, and makes recommendations aimed at improving things like competency frameworks, accessibility to education and training, and continuing professional development. 

The report identifies priority areas for action, including addressing issues facing hazardous substances professionals, health and safety generalists, occupational hygienists, occupational health nurses and human factors and ergonomics professionals.

To help address the priority areas for action for hazardous substance professionals, we are funding a HASANZ initiative to develop a competency framework for people seeking to become compliance certifiers, along with a training model and materials. 

The project will also consider how to attract new compliance certifiers into the profession. The project, expected to run for two years, is supported by HSPNZ and NZIHSM.

We will keep you informed of progress on the project through this channel.

We recently published a policy clarification and guidance for businesses and compliance certifiers on certification of class 6 & 8 hazardous substance locations.

The policy clarification explains that hazardous substance location and compliance certification requirements apply only when a substance is in storage, and what is considered to be ‘in storage’.

The guidance sets out the requirements for a location compliance certificate to be issued, including our approach to securing compliance where separation distance requirements cannot be achieved.

The guidance explains that where a PCBU is compliant with all of the regulatory requirements for a location compliance certificate to be issued (signage, inventory, SDS, emergency management etc) other than for separation distances, they will have a further 12 to 18 months to rectify the non-compliance with the separation distances and thereby obtain certification.

PCBUs should be actively working with compliance certifiers to have assessments undertaken of their hazardous substance locations for compliance with the regulations.

Where a certifier refuses to issue a location compliance certificate, this must be notified to us.  

Compliance by 1 December 2019 is expected where a PCBU can meet the separation distance requirements now.  

See our website for more information on storage of hazardous substances and obtaining a location compliance certificate.  

The requirement for hazardous waste to be covered by the Hazardous Substances Regulations came into force on 1 June 2019.   

When you’re assessing a site for compliance, check if they have any hazardous wastes that need to be considered as part of your assessment. 

The policy clarification on hazardous waste, including what we consider to be hazardous waste and how businesses need to manage it, is now available on our website.

Tubepress or europress fittings are compression fittings with “o” ring seals.

Further to the articles in the Certifier Updates 09/2017 and 12/2017, we point out that the standard AS 1940:2017 The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids has a note in section 6.2.2 Joints. 

This note reads “For small diameter piping, joints should be of a metal-to-metal compression type”. This supports the view that joints with elastomeric seals such as crimped joints are not suitable for pipework conveying flammable liquids and therefore our view is that these should not be used for that purpose. 

Under the Performance Standard for Class 6 Certified Handlers, clause 5(1)(a) requires that the certifier sights a passport and/or birth certificate to ensure that the compliance certificate is issued in the full legal name of the applicant. 

This is different to establishing the identity of the applicant, i.e. by means of a photo ID. How to establish the identity is left to the discretion of the compliance certifier to allow them to follow their own existing business practices. 

We have seen several examples of driver’s licences not stating the full legal name of the person. This document is not suitable to meet the provisions of clause 5(1)(a). However, you can still ask the applicant for their driver’s licence to establish their identity.

Since the requirement to verify the full legal name of the certified handler is in the performance standard (as a means of clarifying the requirement in regulation 6.26(2)(f)) it is mandatory.

International applicants will need their passport, while New Zealanders are able to obtain a new copy of their birth certificate online from the Department of Internal Affairs website.

Regulation 2.5 requires that all required information is clearly visible and legible at a distance of not less than 10 metres under varying conditions.

There is no prescribed size for the signage, however best practice can be found in the Australian Standard AS 1319-1994 Safety signs for the occupational environment. 

From this Standard, for signs where lighting is good, the letters should be 5mm per metre of viewing distance (upper case) and 4mm per metre of viewing distance (lower case). Hence lettering of 50mm (upper case) and 40mm (lower case) should be legible from 10 metres in good lighting conditions.

Under the Standard, signs in poor lighting conditions would require the lettering size to increase by 50%.

• Application for exemption from hazardous substances regulations (use for any regulation not covered by the other application forms)
• Application for exemption from certain certificates for cylinders 
• Application for exemption from Part 11 requirements for separation distance and/or building type
• Application for exemption under regulation 13.44 of the hazardous substances regulations 
• Application for exemption from fire-fighting facilities for an LPG tank wagon
• Application for exemption from fire-fighting facilities on a stationary tank