Chemicals course: the chemical register, safety data sheets and safe use

8 modules in the course

Each module links directly to lovdata.no and the Labour Inspection Authority's guidance.

How the course is built. Open a module to see what it covers and which statutory provisions it rests on.

1. 01Chemical health hazards and the regulatory framework

   The module gives you the map: what chemical health hazards are, the difference between acute and chronic effects, and the three ways substances enter the body, inhalation, skin and eyes, and ingestion. You see why the rules apply in cleaning, construction, workshops and labs, not just the chemical industry, and who is responsible: employer, worker and safety representative. It also frames the course as theory training.

   Legal basis:Forskrift om utførelse av arbeid

2. 02Safety data sheets (SDS)

   The safety data sheet is the single most important document for safe use. It must be in Norwegian, have 16 fixed sections, and the supplier must make it available. You learn to find answers fast: section 2 for hazards, 4 for first aid, 7 for storage, 8 for protective equipment and 13 for disposal.

   Legal basis:Arbeidstilsynet: sikkerhetsdatablad

3. 03CLP hazard labelling: pictograms, H- and P-statements

   The module teaches you to read the hazard labelling on packaging: the nine red and white hazard pictograms, the signal words "Danger" and "Warning", and the H- and P-statements that describe the hazard and the precaution. You learn a fixed order, pictogram, hazard, precaution, and why old orange labels are a warning sign. Classification and labelling are the supplier's duty; you learn to read them, not to make them.

4. 04The chemical register: requirements, use and access

   Here you go through the requirements in chapter 2 of the regulation on the performance of work: the register must be set up before hazardous chemicals are used (section 2-1), be in Norwegian and kept current (2-2), be used when risks are assessed and instructions written (2-3), and be easily accessible where the work happens (2-4). You learn what that means for a digital register, and the mistakes inspections often find.

   Legal basis:§2-1§2-2§2-3§2-4

5. 05Risk assessment of chemical health hazards

   Under section 3-1 the employer must map and document the chemicals and assess any risk, based on hazardous properties, quantity, exposure and limit values among other things. You learn that risk is hazard combined with exposure, and the hierarchy of controls: substitute hazardous substances where possible (Working Environment Act section 4-5(2)), then technical and organisational measures, and protective equipment last. The specific assessment must be made by the business itself.

   Legal basis:§3-1aml §4-5

6. 06Safe handling, storage and protective equipment

   Chemicals must be handled and stored in a fully sound way so that harm to health, fire, explosion and other accidents are avoided (section 3-7). In practice that includes keeping them labelled, closed and with incompatible substances apart. Section 3-8 puts the measures in priority order, with personal protective equipment after technical and collective measures. You learn to choose the right gloves, eye and respiratory protection from the safety data sheet, and why the wrong equipment can give false security.

   Legal basis:§3-7§3-8

7. 07First aid, spills, emergency response and hazardous waste

   The module covers the first minutes when something goes wrong: first aid for splashes to the eyes or skin, inhalation and swallowing, and safe handling of spills. Where accidents can happen, the employer must have an emergency plan that is known and practised regularly (section 3-15). You also learn that chemical residues are often hazardous waste, and that waste containing carcinogenic or mutagenic chemicals must be collected in closed, clearly labelled containers and destroyed safely or delivered to an approved reception facility (section 3-16).

   Legal basis:§3-15§3-16

8. 08The employer's training duty and documentation

   The closing module ties it together: section 3-4 requires training of both the worker and the safety representative on points a to f, and the training must be repeated regularly when working with carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic chemicals. Section 3-5 adds ongoing information. You see exactly what the course gives, the general theory, and which part the employer must give locally.

   Legal basis:§3-4§3-5