Singapore proposes changes to national standards for GHS and SDS 
On April 4, 2022, a Singapore governmental agency, Enterprise Singapore published proposed revisions to Part 2 and Part 3 of Singapore Standard (SS) 586 “Specification for hazard communication for hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods”. These drafts standards refer to the seventh revised edition of UN GHS. The comment period will end on June 6, 2022.
Part 2 of the SS 586 specifies GHS classification as a whole, while Part 3 specifies SDS preparation in particular.
- Part 2: Globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals – Singapore’s adaptations (Revision of SS 586-2:2014)
- Part 3: Preparation of Safety Data Sheets (SDS) (Revision of SS 586-3:2008)
The proposed changes to SS 586 are as follows.
Part 2: Globally harmonized system of classification and labeling of chemicals (GHS)
- A new physical hazard class for “desensitized explosives” (Category 1-4) is introduced.
- A new section on “Hazard communication for chemicals stored in workplace” is inserted as section 8.
- A new provision that the statement “Warning: May form explosive dust-air mixture if dispersed” shall be indicated where there is a risk of dust explosion as supplementary information in a label is added.
- Examples of labelling for chemicals supplied in small containers are provided in the newly added Annex B.
Part 3: Preparation of safety data sheets (SDS)
- Annex D (Basic physical and chemical properties) and Annex E (Further safety characteristics) are added for the description of physical and chemical properties. Annex D provides guidance on properties that are required to be indicated in the physical and chemical properties section of SDS, while Annex E lists other properties that are not required on SDS but may be useful to communication and be included in this section.
- Examples of SDS are updated based on the GHS 7.
NOTE:
On October 7, 2022, Singapore updated the drafts of the National Standard SS 586 Part 2 and Part 3. See more details below:
Singapore Announces Updated Proposal for Revision of National Standards to Implement GHS
