07–11 November 2011, PR China – UNITAR/ILO, in collaboration with the Orange House Partnership (OHP) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT) conducted two training sessions on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) in Beijing. The first training session brought together 186 regulators and officials of Government Ministries and Agencies, local authorities, and provincial state/governments involved in the GHS. The second session was dedicated to the industry sector and involved the participation of 133 stakeholders.

These training sessions follow other similar trainings recently organized in the Philippines (12–16 September 2011), Thailand (19–23 September 2011), Malaysia (26–30 September 2011), and Indonesia (03–07 October 2011). They are part of the project “Strengthening National and Regional Capacities to Implement the GHS in ASEAN – Phase II”, funded by the European Union.

The objective of these events was to train regulators, workers and industry people, in each of the 5 participating countries, on GHS classification and hazard communication (labels and safety data sheets) and technical issues. The beneficiaries of the direct training will then train larger numbers of the target audiences (“train-the-trainers’’). An emphasis in these subsequent technical workshops for GHS classification and hazard communication will be for SMEs.

During these events, the GHS basic and advanced courses jointly developed by UNITAR/ILO and OHP were pilot tested. The trainings were provided by experts from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the Environmental Protection Authority of New Zealand, Health Canada, the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Orange House Partnership, on behalf of UNITAR/ILO.

For additional information on the event, please consult the following link:
http://www.unitar.org/cwm/ghs/ASEANproject/GHS2011Training