§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange for the Health and Safety Commission to compile a central register to record the properties of all potentially dangerous chemical substances, ensure such a register is brought to the attention of all interested parties, and that the register is revised regularly.
§ Mr. John GrantI am informed by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that manufacturers, suppliers and users of dangerous substances already have duties under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act for ensuring their safe use, so far as in reasonable practicable.
A central register of the kind envisaged would not usefully add to work already done elsewhere to help industry carry out these responsibilities. Facilities to help, in the form of commercial research and testing laboratories, abstract services and chemical data banks already exist, and industry can make use of these. Beyond this it is hoped that the proposed notification scheme for new chemical substances will make a significant contribution to making it possible to reduce the potential hazards of new substances.