The Brandweerinformatiecentrum voor gevaarlijke stoffen/Information Centre for Dangerous Goods (BIG), established in the Flemish

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 city of Geel

Geel

Geel is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp which acquired the status of a city in the 1980s.It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns : Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum...

, collects and validates information on dangerous goods

Dangerous goods

Dangerous goods are solids, liquids, or gases that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. They are often subject to chemical regulations. "HazMat teams" are personnel specially trained to handle dangerous goods...

.

History

BIG was established in 1979 following a number of serious environmental disasters in the mid-seventies. The initial partners were the town of Geel (represented by the local fire service), Katholieke Hogeschool Kempen

Katholieke Hogeschool Kempen

The Katholieke Hogeschool Kempen is a university college where students can obtain a professional bachelor's degree in several domains...

 and the Applied Sciences department of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...

. The aim was to develop an information centre for dangerous goods that could be consulted by fire brigades.

Database

Every year they publish a selection of their chemical database

Chemical database

A chemical database is a database specifically designed to store chemical information. This information is about chemical and crystal structures, spectra, reactions and syntheses, and thermophysical data.- Chemical structures :...

 on DVD. This selection, called BIG Kaleidos Database, consists of validated data concerning 20,000 chemical substance

Chemical substance

In chemistry, a chemical substance is a form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. It cannot be separated into components by physical separation methods, i.e. without breaking chemical bonds. They can be solids, liquids or gases.Chemical substances are...

s and mixtures available in 13 languages. Subscriptions include annual updates. The database contains more than 250 properties, including physico-chemical properties, safety and prevention measures, and transport legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

. Single-user and network versions are available.

At an incident scene it is important to identify the substance as soon as possible and to take the appropriate measures. Information and communication play a vital role. For this reason, BIG developed a Pocket PC

Pocket PC

A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...

 application, the Kaleidos Pocket.

Emergency Response Service

BIG is a 24-hour emergency centre for responding to accidents with dangerous goods. In these situations, the supplied information is always free. Belgian and foreign emergency services use this service at chemical accidents scenes. For companies there is a charge for emergency service. Those companies can mention the BIG emergency number on their documents and packaging.
Emergency centre: +32 (0) 14 58 45 45

Safety Data Sheet

BIG develops Safety Data Sheets in accordance with the applicable EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 legislation (according to (EC) no. 1907/2006 (REACH, Article 31 and annex II). The sheets are available in several languages. The SAS layouts are also available in accordance with local legislation and the new EU GHS/CLP classification.
Safety Data Sheets are available in following basic languages:

• Dutch, French, English, German
• Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
• Swedish, Danish
• All other languages are available as a translation.

Consultancy

BIG can help companies with environmental and other legislation concerning dangerous goods (European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road

European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road

The European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, commonly known as ADR , governs transnational transport of hazardous materials.Launched in Geneva on 30 September 1957 under the aegis of the United...

, International Air Transport Association

International Air Transport Association

The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...

, International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code, Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail, etc.). Recently BIG has also started an outsourcing service.

REACH

• Inventory of substances, mixtures and articles
• Pre-registration
• Data Gap Analysis
• Developing chemical safety reports and the technical dossier
• Evaluation test data
• Exposure and risk Characterisation
• PBT/vPvB-assessment
• IUCLID 5
• Safety data sheet according to REACH
• Authorisation application
• Consultancy for the SIEF/consortium
• To help authorities to develop annex XV dossiers
• Third party representative for EU manufacturers
• Only representative for non-EU manufacturers

External links

• Website Brandweerinformatiecentrum voor gevaarlijke stoffen