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General enquiries made by phone or email after 12pm on Tuesday 24 December will be responded to from Monday 6 January 2025. This does not apply to notifications made by phone on 0800 030 040.
We wish you a safe and relaxing holiday.
Here we look at transitional arrangements under the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations.
Most requirements under the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations came into force on 1 December 2017. However in some cases there are:
- later commencement dates for some specific regulations, which give you longer to comply
- provisions which allow existing approvals and test certificates under the former Regulations to continue until their expiry date (if any).
The following tables summarise some of the key commencement dates and transitional arrangements.
Requirement with later commencement dates
| Requirement | Commencement date | Regulation number |
|---|---|---|
| Duty to provide information, training and instruction to every worker who uses, handles, manufactures, or stores hazardous substances. |
1 June 2018 |
4.5(external link) |
|
Application of the Regulations to use, handle and store hazardous waste. (Provisions, other than those in Regulation 1.4, that specifically refer to hazardous waste, such as inventory and labelling, start on 1 December 2017). |
1 June 2019 |
1.4(external link) |
| For class 6.1A, 6.1B, 6.1C, 8.2A and 8.2B substances: | ||
| Storage requirements not at a hazardous substance location | 1 June 2018 | 13.26(external link) |
| Storage requirements at farms | 1 June 2018 | 13.27(external link) |
| Storage requirements at transit depots | 1 December 2018 | 13.28(external link) |
| Establish a hazardous substance location | 1 June 2019 | 13.34(external link) |
| Requirements for stores other than indoor storage cabinets | 1 June 2019 | 13.35(external link) |
| Indoor storage cabinets | 1 June 2019 | 13.36, (external link)13.37(external link) |
| Location compliance certificate (where certain class 6 and 8 substances present in specified quantities) | 1 December 2019 | 13.38(external link) |
Transitional arrangements for existing (HSNO) certificates and approval (those that were current at 1 December 2017)
Transitional provisions found in Schedule 1: Transitional, savings, and related provisions(external link) of the new Regulations. Certification and approvals must have been current at the time the new Regulations came into force on 1 December 2017 for the transitional arrangements to apply.
| Certification or approval | Transitional arrangements | Clause in Schedule 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency response plan | An ERP prepared under the Hazardous Substances (Emergency Management) Regulations 2001 will be treated as an ERP prepared under the new regulations. | Clause 2(external link) |
| Test certificates | A test certificate issued by a test certifier under section 82 of the HSNO Act continues under the new Regulations as a compliance certificate for the balance of the period for which it was issued. | Various |
| Conditional test certificate for a location | These certificates remain in force. However, if the conditions are not met by the specified date, the certificate will expire. | Clause 3(external link) |
| Test certifiers | Approved test certifiers are treated as authorised compliance certifiers when the Regulations come into force, until their approval expires. The approval will continue to be subject to any limitations imposed on it. | Clause 4(external link) |
| Gas cylinders or fittings |
Cylinders and other equipment (eg fire extinguishers, cylinder valve outlet connections, regulators) that complied with the HSNO Compressed Gas regulations will be treated as complying with the new Regulations. Recalls and withdrawals of approvals, in force when the new Regulations begin, continue. |
|
| Cylinder design verification certificates |
Continue under the new Regulations until their expiry date, subject to any conditions on the certificate. |
Clause 18(external link) |
| Recognised inspection agency (RIA) | Continues as the RIA under the new Regulations until the expiry of that approval (if any). | Clause 16(external link) |
|
Waiver of requirement for a pre-commissioning certificate; and Waiver of test certificate for imported fittings for LPG cylinders |
Continue under the new Regulations. |
Clauses 21(external link) and 23(external link) |
| Controlled Substance Licences | Continue under the new Regulations until their expiry date, subject to any conditions on the licence. | Clause 5(external link) |
| Approvals of burners, vapourisers and dispensers | Continue under the new Regulations until their expiry date, subject to any conditions on the approvals. | Clauses 37, (external link)38(external link) and 40(external link) |
| Reduced separation distances or variations of other matters for flammable substances | Continue under the new Regulations, until their expiry date (if any). | Clause 12(external link) |
| Waivers for fire fighting facilities for stationary tank | Continue under the new Regulations until their expiry date (if any). | Clause 36(external link) |
| Compliance plans for stationary container systems |
Existing compliance plans continue under the new Regulations until their expiry date Stationary container systems that were being constructed or were being used before 1 July 2006 may need a compliance plan to meet the new Regulations. |
Clauses 44, (external link)42(external link) and 43(external link) |
| Approvals in relation to secondary containment systems |
Approvals to increase the maximum or aggregate capacity of stationary containers in a secondary containment system in effect when the new regulations begin will continue in force until the expiry of that approval (if any). Approvals to reduce the capacity of secondary containment in effect when the new regulations begin will continue in force until the expiry of that approval (if any). |
Clauses 48(external link) and 49(external link) |
Periodic testers
There is no transitional period for periodic testers. On 1 December all periodic tester approvals expire.
In their place there is a new requirement for PCBUs that test cylinders to be authorised as Test Stations. Only test stations can inspect and test gas cylinders.
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