Safety Data Sheets

A Safety Data Sheet (SDS), or Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), is a standardized document that contains crucial occupational safety and health information. It is mandated by the International Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). According to this standard, chemical manufacturers must communicate the hazard information of their chemicals to those who handle them, and one way to achieve this is by providing a Safety Data Sheet. These sheets are comprehensive and cover essential details such as chemical properties, potential health and environmental hazards, recommended protective measures, as well as safety precautions for proper storage, handling, and transportation of chemicals.

The Globally Harmonized System (GHS) is a comprehensive set of international guidelines developed by the United Nations. Its primary objective is to ensure the safe manufacturing, handling, use, disposal, and transportation of hazardous materials. The GHS system serves several key purposes:

Safety Data Sheets (SDS) follow a standardized structure consisting of sixteen sections. These sections are designed to provide quick access to essential information necessary for chemical handlers to ensure safe handling practices and to aid emergency response personnel. Here is an overview of the different sections:

Sections 1-8: These early sections focus on providing key information that may be required urgently. They cover topics such as identification, hazards, composition, first aid measures, and firefighting measures.

Sections 9-11: These sections contain technical and scientific data related to the chemical substance or mixture. Information regarding stability, reactivity, physical and chemical properties, and other relevant data is included here.

Sections 12-15: While not mandatory, these sections are necessary to achieve full compliance with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). They typically cover additional information on ecological, disposal considerations, transportation, and regulatory information.

Section 16: The final section provides details about the SDS itself. It includes information such as the revision date and any changes made since the previous version.

You may visit OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard for Safety Data Sheets, for more information.

Employers must ensure that employees have access to safety data sheets for all of the hazardous chemicals they handle. Employers may fulfill this requirement in a variety of ways. For example, SDS binders are quite common as are computer-based SDS databases. What’s important is that employees have access to the safety data sheets for all of the chemicals that they are using. If the employer does not have an SDS for one of these chemicals they should contact the manufacturer to obtain the current version of the SDS for that chemical. In this sense, the online SDS databases have a clear advantage over binder-based systems since the database vendor usually takes care of indexing and updating the safety data sheets.