Safety Data Sheets are a requirement of OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard. Over the years the requirement has changed to better accommodate employees, but what does that mean for employers?
What is the Right to Understand?
OSHA implemented the “right to understand” after OSHA ran studies that showed that employees did not understand one-third of the safety and health information included in SDS.
OSHA originally created the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS or HazCom) in 1983 to increase the safety of workers when working with hazardous chemicals. HazCom gave employees the “right to know” about hazardous chemicals or materials within the workplace. This forced businesses to acknowledge that employees have the right to know which hazardous chemicals or materials are kept in their workplace. The standard required manufacturers and importers to relay information on the hazards their chemicals or materials may provoke by labeling each chemical and providing Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) for workers. Employers were also required to provide training on handling the chemical.
Now, it's required that employees "understand" the information in the SDSs—it is not enough to supply your workers with basic information on the safety management of hazardous chemicals. Employees have the right to understand various information about hazardous chemicals or materials. It is imperative that employers train employees on how to act when a hazardous situation arises. Employees should feel confident from training to follow specific procedures when hazardous chemicals or materials are ingested, in contact with skin, etc.
For instance, more specific criteria are required such as the classification of hazards including health and physical hazards, and the classifications of mixtures. They also require employers to train employees on how to use, handle, dispose, and or distribute the hazardous chemical or material.
What are the Challenges of Staying Compliant?
1. Reduce the time it takes to access SDS information
When a hazardous accident occurs, it only takes seconds for a minor accident to turn into a fatal one. It is imperative that employees can find first-aid procedures instantly, and be able to understand exactly which steps to take.
When SDSs are accessible only through paper-based binders, employees have to
1) locate the binder, which could take minutes,
2) flip to find the right SDS,
3) read through the often lengthy PDF.
When SDSs are accessible online or electronically, first-aid information is easy to navigate as they are extracted from the original SDSs. This makes it more accessible and reliable as injured employees must move quickly to effectively remove or treat the hazard.
2. Ensure the SDSs are new and updated
As new hazardous chemicals or materials enter the workplace, employers must update employees on specific handling, storing, and distribution procedures. By storing your SDSs online, they are easy to access and sort by location.
Overall, SDS helps to ensure safety within the workplace and provides substantial information to be used, on hand, during work hours. Safety management is much more achievable when employees are aware of specific implications a chemical or hazard may have.
Simplify your SDS Management
Our goal is to help companies achieve a high quality SDS library with a minimal amount of time and effort. With SMS360, your paper SDS binder gets converted to an online e-binder that can be accessed by an employee in seconds.
Unlike other digital SDS binders, SMS360 extracts the important information from the PDFs so employees are able to see crucial First Aid information right away. This also helps make it easier for employees to fully “understand” what they're reading, rather than just having access to the information. SDSs can sometimes be fifteen page documents filled with lots of different information, which can make it difficult to find and comprehend the important stuff in the event of an emergency.
SMS360 is a reliable, user-friendly platform that can streamline your safety management and help simplify your safety processes. We provide:
- Unlimited users to access
- Inventory reporting
- Continuous sourcing for updates
- Backup library
- Access to current and previous SDS
- Offline access
- External link for non-users
- Multi-lingual SDSs, if provided by the manufacturer
- Optional value solution which administers 800 emergency response materials
SMS360 updates SDSs in all languages offered by the manufacturer. If a language is not available, it's easier for an employee to copy and paste into an online translator rather than having to type it in from a paper PDF.
