Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) can save lives
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a document that contains information on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) and how to work safely with the chemical product. It is an essential starting point for the development of a complete health and safety program.

Safety Data Sheet Translation Can Save Lives
Did you know that safety data sheet translation actually saves lives? It may sound like an outlandish claim to make, but it is undeniable. When dealing with hazardous chemicals, workplace documents that inform employees on the best way to handle such substances – called Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) – can mean the difference between safety and serious injuries. As a consequence, if your company employs a multilingual workforce, then such sensitive workplace documents need to be translated accurately! At a time of emergency, your workforce needs to know how to immediately respond, and a language barrier cannot get in the way.
Safety data sheets are important in helping you, or anyone you supply, to make the workplace safe and to protect the environment. More specifically, a safety data sheet contains information to help you make a risk assessment as required by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH).
There is no difference between an MSDS and an SDS, as both are generic terms for safety data sheets. A GHS compliant safety data sheet is an SDS but not an MSDS. … In order for an SDS to be GHS compliant, it must have 16 sections in the proper order with the relevant information for each section
A safety data sheet contains information to help you make a risk assessment as required by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH).
The safety data sheet itself is not an assessment. However, it will describe the hazards, helping you to assess the probability of those hazards (ie the risk) arising in the workplace.
To help with COSHH risk assessments, HSE has developed simple step-by-step guidance, which starts with the information on the safety data sheet, and ends with an explanation of how employers can best protect their workers. This guidance, known as COSHH Essentials, is available free on the Internet at www.coshhessentials.org.uk. The information on the safety data sheets is important, especially the boiling point and the classification, because it will help you to do your COSHH Essentials risk assessment. If this information is not on the safety data sheet, you should ask your supplier to provide it.

What must the data sheets contain?
CHIP lists 16 headings which must appear on a safety data sheet. The information included under these headings will help you to make sure that the product is used safely. For example, the safety data sheet should describe the hazards the chemical may present, provide information on how it should be handled, stored and disposed of and explain what should be done in the case of an accident, i.e., first aid, fire-fighting measures, etc.
General requirements for compiling a safety data sheet
The safety data sheet shall enable users to take the necessary measures relating to protection of human health and safety at the workplace, and protection of the environment. The writer of the safety data sheet shall take into account that a safety data sheet must inform its audience of the hazards of a substance or a mixture and provide information on the safe storage, handling and disposal of the substance or the mixture.
The information provided by safety data sheets shall also meet the requirements set out in Directive 98/24/EC. In particular, the safety data sheet shall enable employers to determine whether any hazardous chemical agents are present in the workplace and to assess any risk to the health and safety of workers arising from their use.
The information in the safety data sheet shall be written in a clear and concise manner. The safety data sheet shall be prepared by a competent person who shall take into account the specific needs and knowledge of the user audience, as far as they are known. Suppliers of substances and mixtures shall ensure that such competent persons have received appropriate training, including refresher training.
The language used in the safety data sheet shall be simple, clear and precise, avoiding jargon, acronyms and abbreviations. Statements such as “may be dangerous”, “no health effects”, “safe under most conditions of use” or “harmless” or any other statements indicating that the substance or mixture is not hazardous or any other statements that are inconsistent with the classification of that substance or mixture shall not be used.
The date of compilation of the safety data sheet shall be given on the first page. When a safety data sheet has been revised and the new, revised version is provided to recipients, the changes shall be brought to the attention of the recipients in Section 16 of the safety data sheet, unless the changes have been indicated elsewhere. For the revised safety data sheets, the date of compilation, identified as “Revision: (date)”, shall appear on the first page, as well as one or more indications of which version is replaced, such as version number, revision number, or supersedes date.