Distributors shall ensure that material safety data sheets, and updated information, are provided to other distributors and employers with their initial shipment and with the first shipment after a material safety data sheet is updated;. The distributor shall either provide material safety data sheets with the shipped containers, or send them to the other distributor or employer prior to or at the time of the shipment;.
Retail distributors selling hazardous chemicals to employers having a commercial account shall provide a material safety data sheet to such employers upon request, and shall post a sign or otherwise inform them that a material safety data sheet is available;. Wholesale distributors selling hazardous chemicals to employers over-the-counter may also provide material safety data sheets upon the request of the employer at the time of the over-the-counter purchase, and shall post a sign or otherwise inform such employers that a material safety data sheet is available;.
If an employer without a commercial account purchases a hazardous chemical from a retail distributor not required to have material safety data sheets on file i. Wholesale distributors shall also provide material safety data sheets to employers or other distributors upon request; and,. Chemical manufacturers, importers, and distributors need not provide material safety data sheets to retail distributors that have informed them that the retail distributor does not sell the product to commercial accounts or open the sealed container to use it in their own workplaces.
The employer shall maintain in the workplace copies of the required material safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical, and shall ensure that they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area s. Electronic access, microfiche, and other alternatives to maintaining paper copies of the material safety data sheets are permitted as long as no barriers to immediate employee access in each workplace are created by such options.
Where employees must travel between workplaces during a workshift, i. In this situation, the employer shall ensure that employees can immediately obtain the required information in an emergency. Material safety data sheets may be kept in any form, including operating procedures, and may be designed to cover groups of hazardous chemicals in a work area where it may be more appropriate to address the hazards of a process rather than individual hazardous chemicals.
However, the employer shall ensure that in all cases the required information is provided for each hazardous chemical, and is readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in in their work area s.
Material safety data sheets shall also be made readily available, upon request, to designated representatives and to the Assistant Secretary, in accordance with the requirements of 29 CFR The Director shall also be given access to material safety data sheets in the same manner. To find an MSDS, click here! For the dictionary of terms click here. Toggle navigation Home. They are required as a part of any compliance obligation to be available and displayed prominently in the workplace.
The public has a right to MSDS data upon request. They must be written in English and contain: the name of the chemical same as on the label the chemical and common names of the substance a listing of the ingredients a statement of the ingredients that are known carcinogens or that present other known hazards any specific hazards In general, if your business uses hazardous chemicals as opposed to manufacturing or importing them for sale to others you should be able to obtain a MSDS from the manufacturer, so that you can post it in the workplace and keep it in your records.
Guidance about the hazard determination: The chemical manufacturer or importer of a chemical is required to review available data about the hazards of the chemical and perform a hazard determination in accordance with the requirements of the standard.
The hazard determination involves review of data about both health and physical hazards. Small Business Handbook.
Chemical Hazard Communication. Here are examples of other national requirements:. In addition, the Downstream Users of Chemicals Coordination Group — a European association representing downstream industries, including aerosols, paints, adhesives, photographic and construction chemicals, and chemical distributors — provides voluntary guidelines that attempt to clarify critical definitions, including the difference between major and minor changes to an MSDS, and establish industry standards for notification to downstream users.
Compliance with right-to-know and product stewardship standards can be a rigorous, time-consuming process. Many enterprise companies support their compliance program with MSDS-authoring solutions that help streamline the process of addressing compliance under multiple right-to-know regulations.
Automated authoring systems also offer the capability to link software applications that automatically distribute MSDS changes to customers as needed. The days are gone when homegrown systems, spreadsheets or manual processes, supported by administrative resources, can adequately address MSDS compliance.
A patchwork of systems and manual processes can leave a business exposed to considerable risk and costs because they cannot handle the complex reporting requirements or support the rapid pace of change in the global regulatory landscape.
The best way for a downstream manufacturer to ensure effective MSDS compliance is to:. Editor's Note: This article represents the independent views of the author and should not be construed as a National Safety Council endorsement. For example, the requirement that a competent person authors the SDS, slightly modified from the original, is established in European regulation by paragraph 0. Suppliers of substances and mixtures shall ensure that such competent persons have received appropriate training, including refresher training.
Nonetheless, the requirements for a written Hazard Communication HazCom program do imply the need for competence at all points in the chain of evaluation and communication of hazards.
Instead, its definition is "one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them" [29 CFR Before the competence requirements of SDS authors can be established, the basic process for authoring an SDS should be known.
This is due to the complexity of the task: ideally, one person is not expected to be sufficiently expert in all aspects of SDS information. In reality, certain aspects can be ascribed to other parties in the documented process of creating an SDS. Examples of aspects of the process that are typically delegated include the following.
The classification of chemical substances requires significant depth of knowledge in toxicology, ecotoxicology, physical and chemical hazards, and test methods. But an author for a chemical mixture formulator may not have to be expert in these areas because the supplier will provide the classifications with the raw materials supplied. The assignment of the proper shipping description for transport requires knowledge of transportation regulations for all modes of transport foreseen for the products, which may include air, sea, inland waterway, and road transport.
Road transport regulations can also differ between countries, further complicating the expertise required. Quite commonly, the job of sorting through the transport regulations can be assigned to a transport expert, either in the logistics department or as an external consultant hired to ensure the European requirement for a certified Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor are met. Mixed chemicals often react, creating new substances in the process.
Keep your eyes open for simple cases like SDSs that show acids together with alkaline chemicals, and you will see that the requirements for competence may not always be met in the real world! Information on first aid, personal protective equipment, and other precautionary advice can often be learned from the medical personnel, industrial hygienists, and safety professionals who support the manufacturing operations of the company producing the SDSs.
A good author will make friends with these experienced professionals so that lessons learned in their own facilities can be shared with their downstream users. Once the SDS authoring process is defined, a clear picture will emerge regarding which competencies belong to which parties in the process flow.
Job qualifications and continuing education can then be established to ensure that a quality SDS results. Those seeking to establish competence may study independently or may subscribe to a series of seminars to help refresh and complete their knowledge in anticipation of taking the examination.
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