Osha requirement for updating msds

An employer who may have multiple workplaces throughout the work week, like a general contractor, could have an msds book in each of the job trailers on each job site and also be compliant.

A small business could keep the msds binder in the break room, in the office, or hanging on the wall of the shop.

Your employee is not required to remember all of the information included in all of the material safety data sheets for every product he or she may be working with.

Therefore, the msds book is a reference book, and should be accessible through the work day.

That really depends on how SDS's are handled at your organization.

If your employer uses a software program or Internet subscription service for SDS's then maybe not (check with your supervisor, the answer depends on what state and federal agencies have jurisdiction, see also the section on paperless compliance below.).

Where you keep your msds book should be known to your employees, and made part of your written hazard communications policy.

Ask our SDS Specialist: Fulvio De Santis is an SDS Authoring and Management expert at ERA Enviromental.

If the copies you received are exact duplicates (and not updated ones) of sheets that you already have in your "readily accessible" SDS collection, then there is no requirement to keep the extra copies on hand.

However, be sure to carefully check the revision dates on your sheets to make sure there haven't been any changes/updates that you might otherwise overlook!

The classification, label and (material) SDS must comply fully with the specific regulation chosen by the supplier, and not be a combination of the two.

Please refer to the following OSH Answers documents for information about WHMIS 2015: Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) are summary documents that provide information about the hazards of a product and advice about safety precautions.