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February 14, 2023
If your business creates Safety Data Sheets (SDS’s) related to the products and materials you manufacture, you need a process that ensures your sheets are up-to-date and compliant. Here we look at how using PIM for automation is the easiest way to streamline the document creation process to avoid accidents and potential legal penalties.
Safety data sheets, or SDSs, provide occupational safety and health information when using chemicals, chemical compounds, and chemical mixtures. This information includes safe use instructions and warns of potential hazards when working with these materials. Also, these sheets are not intended for consumer use but instead are used to avoid workplace and environmental hazards.
Ensuring these safety data sheets are accurate, up-to-date, and consistent is key to avoiding accidents and ruining your company’s reputation. In fact, they are part of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard and include details about the chemical properties. Additionally, they cover the impact they have on humans and the environment. Safety data sheets ensure anyone using the materials understands the health hazards and the proper protective measures
There are 16 sections included in an SDS:
Chemical manufacturers, distributors, and importers/exporters all use safety data sheets. Overall, the safety data sheets provide those handling the chemical products with formatted, standardized information about the chemicals and how to handle them properly. However, SDSs are also used by companies dealing in hazardous components that might pose issues for others, such as chemicals dangerous for children.
Legal departments overseeing the product descriptions ensure they encompasses the necessary safety information. Basically, this is to protect the company from liability associated with the use of the product.
Automating SDSs enables you to easily prepare, edit, share, and update all relevant data. In this case, the data is related to the chemicals and hazardous materials manufactured by your company. In essence, using a product information management system, or PIM, enables you to automate safety data sheets. You create a streamlined process with a PIM. As a result, you can efficiently produce user safety guidelines in a collaborative environment.
All key stakeholders are involved in the review process, from the product development department to your legal team. Automated safety data sheets use a customizable template. In essence, 16 sections of safety information are pulled into a centralized hub without any worry of human error. Consequently, the safety data sheets are consistently reliable and accurate.
You can gain complete control over your product data and decide how to present safety data sheets in a user-friendly manner. Most importantly, remain accountable with complete transparency in your product’s hazards, ensuring all users understand how to safely use, contain, transport and respond in case of an accident. Create a single location for your safety data sheets. Also, ensure each one goes through the same process through a PIM. Additionally, you avoid misinformation, errors, and outdated scenarios that negatively impact users. Also, you mitigate risk and improve optics for your company while remaining accountable to your customers.