New Legislative Changes Concerning the Handling of Hazardous Chemicals and Chemical Mixtures

Abstract

Amendment to the Act No. 258/2000 Coll., on public health protection, which entered into force on 1 May 2020 has brought also several changes in the issue of hazardous chemicals and chemical mixtures. The most significant change is the deletion of long-used legislation abbreviations, such as "highly toxic", "toxic" and "corrosive" and the replacement of them by the terminology based on Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Furthermore, the requirements for the professional competence of natural persons for the handling of hazardous chemicals or chemical mixtures which were assigned the hazard class of acute toxicity category 1 or 2 have been modified. Finally, the third substantial change is the abolition of the obligation to draw up written rules on safety and health and environmental protection when working with hazardous chemicals and mixtures formerly named as highly toxic, toxic and corrosive. All three of these changes have provoked a response from the professional public and, to some extent, justified criticism, which is briefly summarized in this article.