SDS Bureau
Flag of the United Kingdom EN ▾
Flag of the United Kingdom English Vlajka Slovenska Slovenčina
Order an SDS
☰ Menu
SDS authoring SDS translation Guide Regulations GHS pictograms H and P statements UFI and PCN SDS template Substance database
Flag of the United Kingdom English Vlajka Slovenska Slovenčina
Order an SDS
Home / Regulations / Chemical agents at work Directive 98/24/EC

Chemical agents at work

Employers must assess the risks from hazardous chemical agents at the workplace, and the safety data sheet is one of the key inputs. What Directive 98/24/EC requires, how the SDS is used and what workers are entitled to see.

Sources last checked: 14 October 2026 · consolidated version of 8 April 2024 Expert review: Maximilián Pálffy, chemical engineer General information, not legal or professional advice. The binding texts are the consolidated directive on EUR-Lex and the national law that transposes it.
Art. 4 Risk assessment, with the SDS as an input
Art. 6 Substitution first, then controls and protective equipment
Art. 8 Workers get information, training and access to the SDS
Art. 35 REACH: workers' access to SDS information

What counts as a hazardous chemical agent

Any chemical agent that meets the criteria for classification in a physical or health hazard class under the CLP Regulation – whether or not it has actually been classified. It also covers agents that do not meet those criteria but can present a risk to workers because of their properties and the way they are used or present at the workplace, including any agent with an occupational exposure limit value.

The directive applies to any activity involving chemical agents: production, handling, storage, transport, disposal and treatment, and work from which chemical agents result.

Source: Directive 98/24/EC, Article 2

How the SDS is used

Article 4(1)

Input to the risk assessment

The employer first determines whether hazardous chemical agents are present, then assesses the risk. It takes into account their hazardous properties, the information supplied by the supplier – such as the safety data sheet – the level, type and duration of exposure, occupational exposure limits and the effect of preventive measures. Missing information is obtained from the supplier or other readily available sources.
Article 8(1)

Information for workers

Workers and their representatives receive the results of the risk assessment, information on the hazardous agents at the workplace and the relevant exposure limits, training on precautions, and access to any safety data sheet provided by the supplier. REACH Article 35 likewise gives workers access to the SDS information on substances and mixtures they use or may be exposed to.
Source: Directive 98/24/EC, Articles 4 and 8 · REACH, Articles 31 and 35

Order of protective measures

Substitution comes first: the employer replaces a hazardous agent with an agent or process that is not hazardous, or less hazardous, under its conditions of use. Where that is not possible, the risk is reduced to a minimum with the measures listed, in order of priority.

Unless other evaluation shows that protection is adequate, the employer measures the agents regularly and whenever conditions change, in particular against occupational exposure limits. The risk assessment is kept up to date, especially after significant changes.

Source: Directive 98/24/EC, Articles 4(2), 6(2) and 6(4)
  • Substitution by a non-hazardous or less hazardous agent or process
  • Appropriate work processes, engineering controls and adequate equipment and materials
  • Collective protection at source, such as adequate ventilation, and organisational measures
  • Individual protection, including personal protective equipment, where exposure cannot be prevented otherwise

In Slovakia: Regulation 355/2006

Slovakia transposes the directive in Government Regulation No 355/2006 Coll., currently in the version effective from 15 July 2026. It adds national details, for example:

§ 4(3) and § 11

Risk report and operating rules

The employer prepares a written risk report and, for work with hazardous chemical agents, operating rules covering safe procedures, protective measures, an emergency plan, first aid and training.
§ 6(2)(d)

Competence for acute toxics

Only employees with professional competence may be assigned to managing or independent work with acutely toxic substances and mixtures classified with H300, H310, H330, H301, H311, H331 or H370.
§ 8

Storing acute toxics

They are kept in a locked room secured against break-in, which may not also hold medicines, narcotics, food, feed, explosives or flammable substances.
§ 10 lists what employees must be told and gives them access to the safety data sheets provided by the supplier and to exposure records. Annex 1 sets the occupational exposure limits; a transitional limit for diisocyanates applies until 31 December 2028 (§ 13c). Source: Government Regulation No 355/2006 Coll., version effective from 15 July 2026

An SDS your safety team can use

We author and translate safety data sheets whose handling, storage and exposure control sections give employers what the risk assessment needs.

SDS authoring SDS translation

Sources

Sources last checked: 14 October 2026. Always use the consolidated version on EUR-Lex or Slov-Lex.