Keeping us Safe One Sheet at a Time: MSDS
A Material Safety Data Sheet is a vital element for anyone that works with a potentially dangerous material. It keeps the area safe, and when included with the right training, helps provide a safer and more eco-friendly work environment.
What is a Material Safety Data Sheet?
A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a document that explains details about possible occupational hazards that might hinder the well-being and safety of workers. The documentation is not designed for consumers, but instead those who work around or with a particular substance that could be possibly dangerous.
Material Safety Data Sheets include information on handling environmental hazards, fire, reactivity, and health. They also include data on how to safely handle NDT and MRO supplies as well as other chemical products. In addition to information on how to work with these possible hazards, there are also guides on handling, using, and storing the items recorded on the sheet.
When disaster strikes, these sheets also describe the correct emergency protocol to help you understand how to properly fight a chemical fire; as opposed to making it worse. Establishing this protocol is a great starting point in aiding individuals and organizations to establish safety and health programs.
Why Do You Need the MSDS?
Although product labels usually provide most of the information included on the MSDS, they don’t cover each base. When mistakes happen, there is no time to look for an instruction label to read.
Alternatively, manufacturers and suppliers that produce the materials create the MSDS. It explains what to do if an incident occurs, what happens if you ignore the right safety procedures, arranges information and describes what kind of hazards are are correlated with the mixture or substance, how to use the product properly, and what symptoms to expect from overexposure.
The Material Safety Data Sheet is not unique to a workplace, but to the product. When a company possesses an MSDS, they can finally put the proper training in place and comply with the rules needed to keep their environment and people safe.
How to Know if Your Company Needs an MSDS
It is suggested that any business is dealing with materials that are potentially dangerous to your health or the environment or include ingredients that are, has an MSDS.
What Does an MSDS Include?
Every Material Safety Data Sheet should provide the same information and topics. If a category does not pertain to a particular substance, or there is no information, the MSDS notes this as well.
The standard MSDS contains categories such as:
- Disposal
- First-aid
- Regulatory information
- Storage and Handling
- Reactivity and stability
- Environmental considerations
- Transport
- Ingredients
- Hazard identification
- How to fight fires
- Accidental release measures
- Exposure
- Toxicological information
- Chemical and physical properties
- Other information
MSDS: Safety Dominates in the Workplace
A MSDS should be understood and read before an accident occurs. Learn the terms and steps to follow when a hazard occurs to keep the workplace safe.
This article is contributed by Tech Service Products. Since 1973, Tech Service Products (TSP) has been the go-to company to provide multiple supplies and services for several industries. For services like industrial supplies, NDT training, and non-destructive testing, contact us.
