After UK Transition: Working with Chemicals - Introduction to the series

After UK Transition: Working with Chemicals - Introduction to the series In this introductory episode, we discuss the main changes to how chemicals will be regulated in the UK from 1 January 2021 and how HSE can help your business prepare for the end of the transition period. We also discuss the different areas and topics that will be covered during the series. ----more---- Visit our website for further information and detailed guidance on the chemical regimes.

*The information in this podcast was correct at time of publication.

Podcast Transcription.

Welcome to a new series of podcasts from the Health and Safety Executive aimed at helping businesses that work with chemicals. Everything you need to know before and after the end of the transition period.

My name is Mick Ord and over the next few months, I’ll be your guide through some of the changes which are happening as a result of the UK leaving the European Union.

We’ll be releasing a difference episode of our podcast every month or so until the New Year and we’ll be hearing from a range of experts about what you need to do to make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible for you and that if you hit any obstacles, we’ll point you in the right direction so you get the right answer as soon as possible. In short, we’re here to help you so subscribe to our podcast, especially if you’re a newcomer to podcasts. Believe me it’s dead easy.

The information we’ll be giving you is important for over 200,000 businesses involved in the export and import of chemicals throughout the UK from the big multi-nationals to the small one man, or one women business.

Joining me today is someone who’s been living and breathing the changes in the legislation for the chemicals sector over the past 18 months and she’s going to talk to us about why we are launching this podcast and a little bit more detail about what we can expect over the next six months or so. Kayleigh Roberts is from the HSE and she works in the External Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Team, bit of a mouthful but - Hi Kayleigh, welcome.

Kayleigh: Hi Mick, thanks for having me.

Mick: Our pleasure. First of all, why has the HSE decided to launch this podcast because it’s not something that you’ve done before is it?

Kayleigh: That’s right Mick this is not something the HSE has done before and in order to help businesses help prepare themselves get ready for the end of the transition period, we want to make sure that we are making as much information available in as many digestible forms as we can to help businesses understand the duties and obligations that they may need to undertake from the 1st, January, 2021. So although it isn’t something we’ve ever done before, last year we did actually record a series of videos, however, owing to the current public health crisis, we believe that this is a more efficient way to provide information this time round.

Mick: Yes, that makes sense. Now as I mentioned in the introduction, you’ve been living and breathing the transition changes over the past year or so, so can you just give us an idea about what you and your colleagues have been doing and what it’s been like being at the centre of these historical changes in legislation?

Kayleigh: Yes, as you mentioned, this is something that has never happened before and it’s something that we’ve never had to take into account before so in order to make sure that we’ve got the legislation in place for businesses to take the duties and actions that they need to from the 1st, January, 2021 when the transition period ends, we’ve had colleagues whose primary role is to work on developing that legislation, to amend the previous statutory instruments that would have come in place in 2019 to take into account the Northern Ireland protocol. So this has been a joint effort of policy and operational colleagues across HSE and we’ve all been working together to make sure that that le