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What Are Safety Data Sheets (SDS)?

The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is made to provide workers and emergency personnel alike with the correct procedures for the use and handling of a specific substance. It covers information, including physical data (boiling/melting point, flash point, etc.), toxicity, first aid, storage, protective equipment, and more.

 

 

Although the SDS is very useful if an accident, such as a spill, occurs, it is essential to the prevention of workplace exposure and accidents, and must be always consulted prior to working with a new substance or creating a new process. This, in fact, is how workers often meet their compulsory employee data training obligation under as required by the HazCom Standard.

 

In the US and other parts of the world that employ the GHS system, the SDS keeps to a standardized format and thoroughly defined safety and risk phrases, as well as  pictograms to communicate their information. Typically, these are several pages long. You can also learn more about safety data sheets by checking out the post at http://www.ehow.com/about_5836632_health-assessment-tools-work-place.html.

 

SDS Consumption

 

The SDS is for the benefit of:

 

> Employees exposed to occupational hazards;

 

> Employers who are uninformed about the right methods of handling substances;

 

> Emergency response teams such as hazardous material crews, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians, and ER personnel, among others. Know more about working in confined spaces safely.

 

SDS's are not intended for consumers. An SDS shows the hazards of working with the substance as an occupational necessity. For instance, an SDS for paint is not as important to someone who is exposed to a can of paint once every year, as it is to someone who is exposed to that paint eight hours per workday.

 

With that, the Household Products Database by the U.S. National Library of Medicine is a perfect resource for consumers to be educated on the consumer product hazards. For instance, it can be used as you choose an environmentally friendly insecticide, know what chemicals are in your soap, or determine the manufacturer of a specific product.

 

How an SDS Looks Like

 

Before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) began its own version of the GHS globally harmonized system of classification and labeling of chemicals, the SDS was made in any format. With the GHS adjustments, the SDS now has a mandatory 16-part format. As well, more information is now required of the SDS than before.

 

Where the SDS Can Be Obtained

 

There are many sources of the SDS, including:

 

> Your workplace or laboratory, where all hazardous chemicals you have ordered should come with a collection of SDS's;

 

> Universities as well as businesses (call your Environmental or Occupational Health Office or science librarian; there are organizations that hire commercial services to get SDS copies online, faxed or printed out); and

 

> The distributor that supplied the material (get in touch with the manufacturer's customer service staff).

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