With exquisite timing (see August 4 post) Farnell has moved to ease the worry lines of executives and engineers confronted by the complex regulation that is REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals).
It has published what is described as an easy to read (a phrase not naturally associated with EC regulations) guide which almost incredibly distills 280 pages of legislation and paracetamol required reading into five easy to read pages.
The guide which was written in collaboration with the UK-based ERA Technology is good enough for three national distribution associations, NEDA in the US, AFDEC in the UK and FBDi in Germany, to adopt the guide as their recommended reference guide to customers. It is by the way complemented by a PDF covering recent guidance around Substances in Articles".
Not a man for understatement Chris Robertson, Head of Reliability and Failure Analysis at ERA Technology reckons, "REACH is the biggest regulatory upheaval to impact the manufacturing sector in over 25 years". Given that it covers the use of 30,000 chemicals I'd say he is right on the money.
While this sort of stuff always provokes widespread groans from the manufacturing sector let's be aware the purpose is to improve the protection of human health and the environment.
You will find the guide at www.globallegislation.com
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