INGENIEUR
Figure 1 : Front page of CIMS
WHAT IS CIMS ?
Regulation 14 of the CLASS Regulations stipulates that an importer or manufacturer must prepare and submit an inventory of hazardous chemicals consisting of information on each hazardous chemical imported or supplied in a quantity of one metric tonne and above annually . The inventory of hazardous chemicals should contain the following : a . The product identifier ; b . The name of hazardous chemicals ; c . The composition and ingredients of hazardous chemicals ; d . The hazard classification ; and e . The total quantity of each hazardous chemicals imported or supplied .
In order to escalate compliance to Regulations 14 of the CLASS Regulations and to escalate efficiency of the submission process , DOSH has decided to establish an online system for the submission . The inventory submission system is called Chemical Information Management System ( CIMS ) ( Chemical Management Division , 2021 ). Figure 1 shows the front page of CIMS which can be found through any search engine at cims . dosh . gov . my .
Development of CIMS took almost four years from 2009 . This was due to the fact that the CLASS Regulations were also being drafted at the
same time and CIMS was expected to be ready only after the CLASS Regulations were gazetted . Suppliers were given a choice for voluntary submission of inventory of hazardous chemicals in 2014 and subsequently the inventory submission was made mandatory two years after the CLASS Regulations were gazetted . This means that the first submission of inventory through CIMS was within the range of January 1 , 2016 to March 31 , 2016 for production or importation of chemicals in 2015 . Year 2021 marks the sixth submission of inventory through CIMS . Figure 2 illustrates development of the online CIMS in Malaysia ( Thavaselvan , 2021 ).
CIMS was designed through joint application development between DOSH and an external vendor , generally to obtain statistics of production and consumption of hazardous chemicals in Malaysia . Statistics compiled from other agencies are not comprehensive due to the limitation of the scope of their respective Acts . Through CIMS , it was hoped that all imported chemicals into Malaysia will be systematically managed and subsequently can be used by other agencies to plan for the future National Chemical Management Plan . Initial set up of CIMS required consultation among relevant stakeholders since chemical management in Malaysia are governed by many agencies and Ministries . Maintenance of CIMS was initially done internally by DOSH ’ s Information Technology Section based in the DOSH
8 VOL 86 APRIL-JUNE 2021