In 2003, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS includes criteria for the classification of health, physical, and environmental hazards, as well as specifying what information should be included on labels of hazardous chemicals as well as the Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) previously known as Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs).
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) published a proposed rulemaking on September 30, 2009 to align OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) with the GHS by 2012. The GHS requires all owners of the SDS to conform to a specific format of thirteen mandatory sections and three non-mandatory sections organized in a certain order.
An SDS is a detailed document required by OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) 1910.1200 and Lab Safety Standard 1910.1450 to accompany any hazardous chemical. It conveys critical information for the safe handling and use of the chemical, as well as how to respond to the various hazards it poses.
The SDS may come from the manufacturer as a hard copy or in digital format, either before the chemical shipment arrives or with the chemical order. You may elect to keep it in either format, but whichever you choose, the SDS must be readily available to your workers in the work area, not locked up or put behind a password on a computer.
If for some reason the SDS has not been sent with a chemical, you should be able to download it from the manufacturer’s website or request a copy directly.
If you need to store many SDSs, companies like Chemwatch offer online databases for easy cataloging and access.