The term material safety data sheets (MSDS) is a mouthful so it is no wonder people use its acronym
. It sounds complicated because it is. The statistics indicate that many companies that manufacture chemical products have incorrect or out of date MSDS. Many people dont know who is responsible for producing or authoring the MSDS, who provides the MSDS or who keeps the MSDS. The process of producing or authoring an MSDS and keeping them up to date can be daunting and a full time job. This is why many companies hire a service that handles all MSDS issues for them. This can be expensive and have mixed results. MSDS software is a great alternative for affordable, accurate and reliable management of your MSDS issues.
You might not think that you need to worry about MSDS compliance. The issue touches more companies than one might first realize. Companies that manufacture hazardous chemicals are the most obvious candidates for MSDS compliance and since most chemicals in large enough quantities can be hazardous it is safe to assume that if you produce a chemical you need to pay attention to MSDS compliance. A not so obvious candidate might be a company that buys chemicals that already have MSDS and mixes those chemicals to create their product. This product that is a mix of chemicals is considered a new chemical and therefore needs its own new MSDS and not just the MSDS of the component chemicals. Both companies are in need of the tools provided in MSDS software.
MSDS software helps you create new MSDS sheets using the most up-to-date data bases. It can help you author an accurate and compliant MSDS. It is especially helpful in helping you compile the information from existing MSDSs when mixing known chemicals to create the new chemical. The MSDS software can also help you keep all your MSDS information current. This is important because often times the information within a MSDS can change but a manufacturer may not send you a new up-to-date MSDS. This does not change the fact that if you mix chemicals your MSDS must be current regardless if the manufacturer of your raw materials MSDS is not current.
If you do not manufacture chemicals or products containing materials and only distribute them, you still have a responsibility to keep up-to-date MSDS data bases. For this reason MSDS software is useful for distributors as well. It can help you maintain the MSDS information that you have, keep it up to date, and in some cases even help you distribute it to the appropriate channels. All of these tasks even when they are as menial as keeping up-to-date MSDS data, take a lot of time and many companies cannot afford to hire someone just for this task. That is why MSDS software can be so valuable for so many different types of business and not just chemical manufacturers. It is important for the health of those that work with these chemicals and it is the law to have a compliant MSDS.