Leveraging Safety Data Sheets for Chemical Safety
The importance of utilizing the SDS to strengthen chemical storage and handling procedures.
- By Karen D. Hamel
- Jun 01, 2023
Using, storing and handling hazardous chemicals safely requires more than finding an empty spot in the warehouse to put them and taking a token glance at the first section of the Safety Data Sheets (SDS). Reviewing five sections of each chemical’s SDS and incorporating the information found in them can make chemical storage and handling procedures safer and more robust.
Although the primary focus of any hazardous chemical’s SDS is to communicate health and physical hazards as they relate to an employee’s health, they are also a great source of information for drafting and revising safe storage and handling procedures. In fact, section seven of every SDS is dedicated to handling and storage precautions.
Section seven may not always provide the full picture, however. Using the information from it as well as well as information from other sections helps to ensure that hazards are identified so that they can be properly addressed. It can also help to identify special precautions that need to be taken so that certain chemicals don’t mix.
Handling and Storage
(Section Seven)
Section seven provides more than just guidance on how and where to store hazardous materials. Chemical manufacturers are also required to include handling precautions to help planners reduce safety risks.
This is one of the first sections to provide detailed information about chemical incompatibilities and how to avoid interactions during storage and handling. It may list isolation methods or distances that need to be maintained between incompatible materials to reduce risks.
It may also include reminders to bond and ground containers or to segregate containment areas to avoid unintended mixing of incompatible materials.
Other specific requirements such as ventilation, shock sensitivity, light sensitivity and temperature limits are also included in this section. General hygiene advice (prohibitions on eating, drinking or smoking around the chemical) will also be noted.
Adhering to the information found in this section and incorporating it into procedures helps to avoid container corrosion, air emissions, reactions, unintentional releases, fires, explosions and other hazards associated with improper hazardous material storage and handling.
Hazard Identification
(Section Two)
Best known as the place to find pictograms, precautionary statements and many of the other elements required on product labeling, section two identifies a chemical’s health and physical hazards. The warnings that are given affect the safety of personnel who use the product, but they can also provide some initial storage and handling information that can be incorporated into procedures.
This article originally appeared in the June 1, 2023 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.