MSDSs

1. Your company is required by OSHA to have an MSDS for every hazardous chemical in the workplace.

2. Your company is also required by OSHA to make these MSDSs "readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area."

3. Sometimes the information on the MSDS is incomplete, unclear or even placed in the wrong section of the data sheet. Read the entire MSDS carefully and ask questions before you do the work.

4. The MSDS usually provides more detailed and accurate information on immediate health effects than on long-term health effects like cancer.

5. You may need help interpreting the information on the MSDS or may have questions about the accuracy of the information. There are a lot of resource people out there to help. These include the International Union Health & Safety Department, Safety & Health groups in your area (COSH Groups), and government agencies like OSHA, NIOSH, Poison Control Centers, or departments within a local or county health department.

6. Compare the work practices, protective equipment and ventilation in your work area with the recommendations on the MSDS. If your controls are inferior, demand more.

7. Sometimes the recommendations found on the MSDS are inconsistent with the Health Hazard section. If the manufacturer recommends personal protective equipment (PPE), special work practices or ventilation but says that there are no or little potential health effects, a warning signal should go off in your head.

8. Animal and laboratory studies are good indicators of the potential health effects of a chemical on humans. When this information is reported (very often it is not), it is found in the Hazardous Ingredients section or the Health Effects section of the MSDS. The data sheet might say the chemical causes cancer, neoplasms, reproductive effects, mutation, teratogenesis, early death or DNA abnormalities in rats or other testing animals or bacteria. This means that the chemical is likely to be hazardous to humans too. Evaluate the way these chemicals are used in the workplace and keep exposures as low as possible.

Summary written by Deborah Nagin, MPH and Joel Carr, IH.