GHS Safety Data Sheets Explained: Section 13

Section 13: Disposal Considerations

Section 13 should contain sufficient information for you to ensure that all of the waste of the product is disposed of safely, and in accordance with the appropriate regulatory legislation. Your company may be able to remove the waste, depending on the product, but generally an outside, specialised team will be required by law.

There are two major considerations to take into account when classifying waste and choosing the correct and legal method for removing it:

1. The legal responsibility for complying with regulatory legislation lies squarely on the disposer (most likely you) and having bad information in not an excuse in the eyes of the authorities. You must ensure your disposal information for the product in question is up-to-date before removing the waste. If you doubt the information provided, immediately contact your supplier.

2. To safely - and legally - remove a waste product from your premises, you are required to ensure the waste is assessed by someone with specialist knowledge of chemical waste and a thorough understanding of the applicable areas of legislation. If your business lacks someone with the required specialist knowledge and experience, you must hire in a suitably qualified outside expert.

Please note: Before hiring contractors or outside experts, you should make inquiries of the Environment Agency to ensure they're competent to do the work.

According to the UK Waste Regulations, all waste from business premises is called 'controlled waste'. Controlled waste is covered by legislation for handling and disposal. It can be any type of agricultural, commercial, industrial or household waste.

Waste that is designated to be moved must be accompanied by the correct documents. This is a legal requirement.

The documents needed for a particular type of waste depends on the nature of that waste. General waste requires a waste transfer note while hazardous waste also requires a hazard waste consignment note.

For obvious reasons, waste which is more dangerous is deemed 'hazard waste' by legislation. However, any chemical products which presents corrosive, irritant, harmful or toxic health hazards should be designated as hazardous waste. However, this is not always the case and a specialist with the requisite knowledge should be called to decide upon this.

Please note: This section is closely linked to and should be read in conjunction with Sections 2 and 14.

Confused by the many pieces of information provided in those safety data sheets? Join the International Association for Chemical Safety's completely free health and safety academy now and take the Safety Data Sheet Awareness Certification™.

This article was originally published by the team over at Sevron Ltd and has been shared here with full permissions.