Check out Chemsafety they just had a webinar on the change to GHS. They did say that the calculator will be updated though WorkSafe have not confirmed the time line. The two systems are going to need to work in tandem for a while.

With our recent visit from worksafe they asked if we knew of the inventory (yes) if we used it (no). And that was the end of it. We do keep our own inventory of all substances though.

I quite like the compatibility part of the inventory. But as a tool I find that's about as useful as it is. Internally we can pin our substance (and we have loads - hence I'm not keen on running 2 different systems) down to a particular individual work area. And our workers in those areas have direct access to resources like the SDS for those substance as well as information on how we manage that risk in that area. There are also linkages to environment monitoring as well as employee health checks. I just prefer keeping things as simple as possible.

As an aside one of the biggest challenges I find is keeping up with all the SDS's. Wish there was a simpler way. (And I am getting a bit frustrated that SDS's seem to be following a generic template. For example I have two substrance one a liquid and one a particle. Both talk about dust inhalation)

We also had a WorkSafe visit. We use our own inventory with all the necessary info on it, they ask if we know about their tool said yes, but not using it, and they did not insist that do.

There is a lot of information on WorkSafe's website that is quite useful, and much that is less so. A lot of historical information that is still relevant and potentially useful has been archived, which is unfortunate. Pick the resource that suits your purpose and your business. It is the H&S outcome that needs to be achieved, and the options available to achieve it are discretionary in most cases. "Reasonably Practicable" is the guiding principle. It's great if Inspectors are able and willing to give advice, but they are not able to mandate that any business uses any particular WorkSafe information resource.

It is not a mandatory requirement to use the WorkSafe inventory. So long as your inventory meets the requirements of Part 3 of the HSW (Haz Subs) Regs, then you will comply.

I have found the WorkSafe inventory very helpful, especially for small businesses. Let's hope the update is not too far in the pipeline.

I agree Cathy I have found WorkSafe's Hazard Substance calculator very useful for both small and large companies.

Brendon to answer your question (very simply) : There are some GHS classifications that fall away for minor hazards. I.E. A&B covered but C&D fall away.

I wish the Worksafe calculator populated classification codes when entering the HSR number. I have seen datasheets for the same product reflect different classification codes...