Why Do I Need Safety Data Sheets for Chemicals?
The Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires chemical manufacturers, distributors, or importers to provide Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) (formerly known as Material Safety Data Sheets or MSDSs) to communicate the hazards of hazardous chemical products. Safety Data Sheets are an essential component and are intended to provide comprehensive information about a substance or mixture for use in workplace chemical management.
In order to ensure that you are keeping your employees safe and know the ingredients in each of the products that they are using each and every day, it is important to know the components. The data sheets must be laid out in a specific order, and that order will be laid out at the end of this blog post.
Safety Data Sheets help in the active protection of your employees and your customers/patients as well. There are specific training measures that go along with each and every chemical to keep everyone safe. Whether if there are hazards or specific precautions to be aware of while using specific chemicals such as protective equipment or treatment if you come in contact with the substance.
The question then becomes – do I need an SDS? The answer to that is simple, if a product is classified as “hazardous” in any way, then you need to have it on file. What about commercial products that would be used at home? “OSHA does not require that MSDSs be provided to purchasers of household consumer products when the products are used in the workplace in the same manner that a consumer would use them, i.e.; where the duration and frequency of use (and therefore exposure) is not greater than what the typical consumer would experience. This exemption in OSHA’s regulation is based, however, not upon the chemical manufacturer’s intended use of his product, but upon how it actually is used in the workplace. Employees who are required to work with hazardous chemicals in a manner that results in a duration and frequency of exposure greater than what a normal consumer would experience have a right to know about the properties of those hazardous chemicals.” (Source: OSHA.gov)
Interested in learning how to put together an SDS for your products and the regulations that Safetec of America, Inc. helps to keep everyone under your watch safe? Feel free to browse through each of the required sections that a SDS must include.
Section 1, Identification includes product identifier; manufacturer or distributor name, address, phone number; emergency phone number; recommended use; restrictions on use.
Section 2, Hazard(s) identification includes all hazards regarding the chemical; required label elements.
Section 3, Composition/information on ingredients includes information on chemical ingredients; trade secret claims.
Section 4, First-aid measures includes important symptoms/effects, acute, delayed; required treatment.
Section 5, Fire-fighting measures lists suitable extinguishing techniques, equipment; chemical hazards from fire.
Section 6, Accidental release measures lists emergency procedures; protective equipment; proper methods of containment and cleanup.
Section 7, Handling and storage lists precautions for safe handling and storage, including incompatibilities.
Section 8, Exposure controls/personal protection lists OSHA’s Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs); ACGIH Threshold Limit Values (TLVs); and any other exposure limit used or recommended by the chemical manufacturer, importer, or employer preparing the SDS where available as well as appropriate engineering controls; personal protective equipment (PPE).
Section 9, Physical and chemical properties lists the chemical’s characteristics.
Section 10, Stability and reactivity lists chemical stability and possibility of hazardous reactions.
Section 11, Toxicological information includes routes of exposure; related symptoms, acute and chronic effects; numerical measures of toxicity.
Section 12, Ecological information*
Section 13, Disposal considerations*
Section 14, Transport information*
Section 15, Regulatory information*
Section 16, Other information, includes the date of preparation or last revision.
*Note: Since other Agencies regulate this information, OSHA will not be enforcing Sections 12 through 15 (29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)).
Employers must ensure that SDSs are readily accessible to employees.
See Appendix D of 1910.1200 for a detailed description of SDS contents.
References:
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/HazComm_QuickCard_SafetyData.html
https://www.msdsonline.com/resources/ghs-answer-center/ghs-101-safety-data-sheets-sds