ESCom Standard - ESComPhrase User Guide
ESComPhrase User Guide
(valid during ‘Interim Period‘)
Standard Phrases for Exposure Scenarios
Author:
Project:
Version:
Date:
Document status: 15/02/2016
Cefic
1.0
2/15/2016
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ESCom Standard - ESComPhrase User Guide
Table of Content
1. General
-
Introduction
Organisation during Interim Period
Administrative support Cefic
2. Standard phrases – concept and rules
-
Purpose and use of Standard Phrases
Need for consistency in Phrase creation
Phrase structure and definitions
3. Adding new phrases / modify existing Phrases
-
Submission process of Phrase requests
What happens to the request after submission
4. Using ES Phrases
-
Download of ES Phrases
Using ES Phrases for ES creation
ES Phrase translations
License Agreement
Attachment 1 – Glossary of Terms
Attachment 2 – Guide for creation of Standard Phrases
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1.
General
-
Introduction
Exposure Scenarios will be created as required by the REACH legislation. In order to achieve
harmonisation of ES and to achieve consistent exchange of ES between computer systems in the
Supply Chain, a library with standardised ES phrases has been developed to enable harmonised
communication in the Supply Chain. This set of standard phrases has been named
‚ESComPhrase‘.
In parallel, an initiative has been taken to develop an IT XML standard (ESComXML) for computer
to computer communication using the standardised phrases for Exposure Scenarios. Both
standards will be published as one package under the „ESCom Standard“.
A project is being defined for continued publication, maintenance and support of the ESCom
standard, which will be outsourced to a contractor (to be selected). The target for start of this
outsourcing project is 1 July 2011. The time period between 1 May and 1 July 2011 has been
named ‚Interim Period‘.
Organisation during Interim Period
During the Interim Period, the publication and management of the XML Standard as well as the ES
Phrases will be taken care of by Cefic:
- The ESComXML standard will be published and can be downloaded from the Cefic
website at www.cefic.org
- These standard ES phrases, that have been prepared by Sector Groups, Associations,
Consortia and companies, have been consolidated in the ES Phrases Master file
(ESComPhrase), which will be maintained and published as an Excel file. These ES
Phrases will also be available for download from the Cefic website.
Administrative support Cefic
Support for the ES Standard Phrases during the Interim Period will be taken care of by Cefic.
Contact person is L. Heezen at lhe@cefic.be
2. Standard phrases – concept and rules
Purpose and use of Phrases
Main purpose of using Standard Phrases is the efficient and consistent creation of text paragraphs,
in this scope to be included in Exposure Scenarios. This will also enable the possibility to have the
Exposure Scenarios translated into other languages by means of the Standard Phrases and, in
addition, it will enhance the harmonisation and transparency of the ES information that DU receive
from different suppliers.
Note: Although Phrases are also being used for Safety Data Sheets (SDS), this document focuses
purely on Standard Phrases for Exposure Scenarios, which are managed as a separate dataset
from SDS standard phrases.
Need for consistency in Phrase creation
In order to have Phrases ultimately used in a consistent and transparent manner, principles, rules
and procedures need to be adhered to by different User Groups who are responsible for creating
and maintaining ES Phrase data. In the case of Standard Phrases for Exposure Scenarios,
Industry Sector Groups, Associations, Consortia and individual companies play an essential role in
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the creation of the phrases.
Attachment 2 in this document describes how Standard Phrases have to be created and also
includes a number of tips and hints to help the creation of consistent phrases to be included in the
ES Standard Phrases Master file.
Phrase structure and definitions.
A Phrase for ES contains following key data fields:
- Phrase Code, acting as the unique Identifier of an individual Phrase and assigned in
coordination with EuPhraC1
- Phrase Description
- Language code (only English in Master file)
-
“A“ctive / “I“nactive indicator
Superseding Phrase code
In addition, a number of data fields have been defined as so called ‚metadata‘, in order to support
administrative, as well as searching and filtering features, e.g.
- Phrase Type
- Phrase Originator
- Original Phrase code
- Target Group, i.e. Worker, Consumer, Environment
- ES Section for which a Phrase will be applicable
Sector Groups, Consortia and companies, submitting proposals for standardised phrases, should
provide the required metadata at submission of the phrases. It should be noted that not all
metadata fields are mandatory, but the more metadata provided, the easier it will be for users to
search and select the phrases.
For a detailed overview of data fields and definitions, as well as data entry rules, see below
document.
ES Standard Phrases
- Template V1.0 - Data definitions.xls
3.
Adding new phrases / update existing phrases
Due to the fact that the number of new ES Phrases during the Interim Period (after publication of
the ESCom standard) is expected to be low, a simple, straight forward procedure will be applied for
the evaluation and approval of a new Phrase request.
-
Submission process for Phrase requests (new, modifications)
The ES Phrase Master Excel file contains a Tab with an ‘ES Phrase update template’ to fill out the
ES Phrase details.
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Following steps are relevant to go through when preparing a Phrase update request:
- Before submitting a new proposal, check the ES Std. Phrase Master file to search for
key pieces of your phrase proposal. If found, please refer to them in your Phrase
addition / update request (Remarks field).
- Enter data in the relevant columns (one row for each update request)
- If a phrase will be inactivated, only enter Phrase code and ‘Phrase Status’ = ‘I’
- If a phrase will be superseded by another Phrase, enter Phrase code and ‘Phrase
Status’ = ‘S’, as well as Superseding Phrase code.
For new Phrases:
- Unique Phrase code: no entry by requester, will be done by ES Phrase Administrator
- Phrase Description: Please take into account the guidelines for Phrase composition –
see Attachment 2.
Note: For a number of data fields, the Excel template will allow only specific values to be
entered.
Phrase update requests have to be submitted via email to lhe@cefic.be, using the ‘ES Phrase
update request template’ to specify Phrase details – See below.
ES Standard Phrases
- Template V1.0 - Submission form.xls
What happens to the request after submission?
After submission, the request will be evaluated and decided upon by the members of the ES
Phrase Working Group (industry group of experts). After evaluation, the decision will be
communicated to the requester. If approved, the addition / modification will be active when the next
Phrase Library version will be published (schedule: every 6 months)
4.
Download and use of ES Standard Phrases
- Download of ES Phrases:
In order to use ES Standard Phrases, a download file of the ES phrases can be obtained via the
Cefic website to be imported and stored in a local library in IT systems. Phrases will be
downloaded as single phrases (without concatenation), each having a unique Phrase code.
- Using ES Phrases for creation of ES:
IT systems using ES Standard Phrases will apply the conventions for including Phrases in the ES.
If needed, concatenation of Phrases will take place when creating the ES. Please contact your IT
provider for more information.(For details, see ESComXML Guidance document)
- ES Phrase translations
ES Standard Phrases from the ES Phrase Master file are available in English language for free.
Translations are currently a commercial activity.
-
License for Download of ES Phrases
Before downloading the ES Standard Phrase Catalogue, a license agreement must be signed by
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the requester, accepting the Terms & Conditions for the use of the ESCom Standard, which
includes the Phrase Catalogue.
The legal basis for using the ES Standard Phrase Master file will be the Creative-CommonsLicence "Attribution 3.0 Unported" at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
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Attachment 1 – Glossary of Terms
BDI
Cefic
CSA
CSR
DU
DUCC
ES
ESComXML
Euphrac
OC
PBT
PROC
RMM
SC
SDS
SG
SU
German industry federation
European Chemical Industry Council
Chemical Safety Assessment
Chemical Safety Report
Downstream user
Downstream User coordination platform
Exposure Scenario
Exposure Scenario for Communication XML standard
European Phrase Catalogue
Operational Conditions
Persistent, bio-accumulative and/or toxic chemicals
Process Category
Risk Management Measures
Supply Chain
Safety Data Sheet
Sector Group(s)
Sector of Use
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Attachment 2 - Guidance for creation of Phrases (derived from EuPhrac)
Phrase composition rules
A Phrase basically consists of a character string that consists of text and (optionally) a parameter
value:
 The simplest occurrence of a Phrase is that it consists of character string with only text.
Example: ”Use leather gloves”

A Phrase may consist of a text string and a parameter (or more)
 A Parameter may be positioned at any place in the Phrase text
 At the place where a parameter has to be inserted, the text will be marked with a special
Tag, i.e. ‘<parm/>’.
 A parameter consists of:
 a Value (e.g. 4 or ”weekly”)
or
 a Value (e.g. 4) and a Dimension (e.g. hours / day)
Example: “Maximum duration of exposure is 8 hours / day“
 A Value may also represent a word, e.g. 'negligible'. (can easily be translated):
Note:
 For the ESCom Standard Rel. 1.1 implementation, it has been agreed:
- to have max. one parameter for an ES Phrase
- this parameter will be positioned at the end of a phrase. (Reason: keep it simple at the
start)
Tips & Hints

Punctuation:

Full sentences end with a dot “.“
Example: “Wash hands before breaks and after work.‘

The start of a list might end with a colon “:“
Example: “Covers frequency up to: “ ;
Possible values to be entered: “daily use, weekly, monthly, yearly“.

All other phrases, in particular headers and list items, should not have any punctuation
except for a very good reason – it is easier and more common for software systems to add
punctuation than to remove it.

Phrases may be connected including punctuation: The different parts of the connected
phrases may be part of the Phrase Library. In this case, a phrase never begins with e.g. a
comma.
Example: Do not create a phrase including “, alternatively:“ to connect phrases.
Instead, a phrase alternatively should be used together with separate punctuation (i.e. a phrase for
“,“ and a phrase for “:“ ).
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
Phrase fragmentation: Phrase fragments are strongly discouraged. Users (as well as
translators) will likely see the phrase without its original context and additional information,
remarks and meta data, or see a choice of phrases as a result of an arbitrary search over all
phrases. They will likely misunderstand the meaning of a fragment.

Consistency: Be consistent. Do not use similar wording for the same meaning (instead use
the same).
Example: a) In case of skin irritation, consult a physician.
b) In case of skin reactions, consult a physician.
Are you able to explain the difference? Are you sure the user is, too? Is the difference
important to note?

Mix of single words / list elements:

Do not mix single words / list elements with complete sentences. Instead, clearly separate
both parts with an introductory phrase for the list elements.
Example: “Covers frequency up to: daily use, weekly, monthly, yearly.“ can better be split into
several phrases, i.e.







“Covers frequency up to:“
“daily use“
“weekly“
“monthly“
“yearly“
“,“
Do not write a description of a potential situation (Operational Conditions) together with
advice to the user (Risk Management Measures) in the same phrase. At least one part of
your proposal may be reused in a different part of the documents, so please split it up.
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
Remember that a phrase is a segmented text. Do not put all guidance to a specific situation
in one sentence. If your phrase proposal consists of more than one grammatically complete
sentence, you might want to split the proposal into two. If your proposal text consists of
more that one paragraph, you definitely must: A return character (end of a paragraph)
cannot be part of a phrase.
Example: “Provide a good standard of general ventilation. Natural ventilation is from doors, windows
etc. Controlled ventilation means air is supplied or removed by a powered fan.“
While it might be useful to have all three sentences together, sentence 2 and 3 are explanatory only
and may not be needed in all contexts. Each of these sentences should be a separate phrase.

Length limitation: There is a length limitation in every software system. Current limitation is
set to 1,000 characters per phrase, but this is far more than a single phrase should ever have
and more than some software systems can handle. Also bear in mind that translations are up to
30% longer than English, so a phrase for a system with 500 characters should not have more
than around 350 characters in English. Please try to match this.
Example: Non-example:
End
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