The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has announced the launch of Indicative Guidelines for Chemical Safety and Security for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to Foster the Peaceful Uses of Chemistry. As such the Guidelines are intended to promote the spirit and objectives of the Hague Ethical Guidelines. The initiative to compile chemical safety and security guidelines for SMEs was launched in 2019 at a Workshop on Developing Tools for Chemical Safety and Security that brought together chemistry stakeholders from public and private sectors from around the world. The Indicative Guidelines incorporate basic elements, such as legal frameworks and selected institutional and technical capacities that can help to achieve chemical safety and security, and build on the resources, tools, and guidance developed by international organisations dealing with public health and the environmental and safety aspects of chemicals. While highlighting the complementary relationships that exist among existing regulations and capacities and chemical safety and security measures, this document specifically addresses the needs of SMEs in CWC States Parties whose economies are either developing or in transition.
The full text of the Guidelines is available here.
Source: OPCW
Image: Pixabay
