MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheet - sipe

MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheet
Date: ______________________________________________
District: __________________ Site: _______________________
Time: _________________________
Department: ___________________
Manager/Supervisor Name: _________________________________________________________________
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a short technical report that provides you with the known hazards of a specific
material. They are written by chemical manufacturers for chemicals they produce or import. The purpose of a MSDS
is to provide written information for the safe use and handling of a particular chemical. They may be written in
different forms, but all are required to give you the following basic information:
‣ Identification (chemical and physical)
‣ Hazardous Ingredients
‣ Physical and Chemical Characteristics
‣ Emergency Procedures
‣ First Aid or Medical Procedures
‣ Manufacturer's Name, Address and Phone Number
‣ Health Hazards
‣ Physical Hazards (fire and explosion data)
‣ Reactivity Data
‣ Personal Protection Data
‣ Spill and Leak Procedures
‣ Waste Disposal Methods
State and Federal laws require that each employer keep these MSDS available at the work site for any hazardous
chemical that you work with. Check with your supervisor for the location of the MSDS file on your job. Be sure to
read the MSDS prior to working with any unfamiliar chemical to inform you of any hazards, and then follow all the
manufacturer's recommendations. A Hazardous Material is any substance which is potentially toxic, incompatible
with other substances, corrosive, explosive, flammable or combustible, or poses unusual physical hazards under
normal use conditions or emergencies. Look at the label on chemical containers. If you see words like:
‣ FLAMMABLE
‣ DANGER
‣ COMBUSTIBLE
‣ HAZARDOUS
‣ POISON
‣ CAUTION
‣ WARNING
Then you know a MSDS is required. The MSDS will help you work safely with chemicals, but only if you read it!
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Safety Procedures
The material safety data sheet is a great source of information on the chemicals we use and, most important, on how
you can use them safely.
A lot of work goes into creating these sheets and to making sure that we have a full set available for your reference.
But all of that is worthless unless you use them.
So always start your preparation for a job involving a hazardous chemical with these three steps:
1) Read the container label.
2) Read the material safety data sheet.
3) Follow the instructions and precautions on the material safety data sheet.
Suggested Discussion Questions
1) What is the purpose of the material safety data sheet?
2) When do you refer to the material safety data sheet?
3) Where do we keep material safety data sheets?
4) What are some examples of substances we use that require checking MSDSs?
5) What are some examples of jobs you do that require checking MSDSs
6) What are the four ways a chemical can get into your body?
7) Is the MSDS binder current and up-to-date?
Provide a copy of a MSDS for a currently used workplace chemical to each person and go through
each section, highlighting the most important information
Suggested SIPE Safety Videos:
18-9 HAZMAT Program – Employee Right to Know (30 minutes)
18-10 Chemical Safety – Worker Health & Safety (15 minutes)
18-11 Hazard Communications 2000 (27 minutes)
144 HAZCOM – Labels and MSDS’s (8 minutes)
225 HAZCOM - Using MSDS’s (12 minutes)
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