Source: SPECIALIST PRINTING WORLDWIDE : ISSUE 2/2019
Frank Toma underlines the importance of the Safety Data Sheet in the safe handling of chemicals
Who has to provide a SDS? Under REACh (the European Union regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) it is the responsibility of every participant in the supply chain of a dangerous substance/preparation, whether they are a manufacturer or a distributor with the firstdelivery and again whenever there are changes in the SDS. The SDS has to be delivered by mail or email. Just passively providing a SDS on a website is not sufficient; it has to be actively sent to the customer…
In what language should the SDS be provided? Well, the SDS has to be provided in one of the official languages of the member state the customer resides in (actually the same goes for the label of the substance). I have been asked by customers if it is really necessary for them to have the SDS of all products used at their site. The answer here is ‘Yes’, since a lot of information relevant to the risk assessment of a substance/preparation is only to be found in the SDS.And without a risk assessment, industrial or commercial use of chemicals is not allowed. Also, every worker handling substances/preparations classified as dangerous has to be granted access to the SDS of these products.
