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    SDSSafety Data Sheet

    Also known as: MSDS

    Definition

    Safety Data Sheet — supplier information on a chemical's hazards, safe handling, storage, emergency measures and protective measures for workplace use.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/sds

    Scope: An SDS supports a workplace assessment; it is not the assessment itself. Supply requirements depend on the applicable regime.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    What HSE, REACH and OSHA say about safety data sheets

    A safety data sheet is the supplier's document describing the hazards a chemical presents and giving information on handling, storage and emergency measures. HSE states that suppliers of chemicals must provide an up-to-date safety data sheet by law if a substance is dangerous for supply, and that a data sheet is not a risk assessment: the employer should use the information it contains to help make its own assessment. Employers who supply chemicals to others must pass on information, as safety data sheets, to those they supply.

    In the EU, Annex II to REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006), as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/878, sets the format and content. It specifies 16 sections, from identification of the substance or mixture and of the company in section 1 to other information in section 16, which includes information on revisions of the sheet. Section 8 covers exposure controls and personal protection and section 11 covers toxicological information. Regulation 2020/878 applies from 1 January 2021, and data sheets that did not comply could continue to be provided until 31 December 2022.

    In the United States, the Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200, requires chemical manufacturers and importers to prepare a safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical they produce or import, in a 16-section order that runs from identification and hazard identification through composition, first aid, fire-fighting, accidental release, handling and storage, exposure controls and personal protection, and physical and chemical properties, to regulatory and other information. Employers must keep copies in the workplace for each hazardous chemical and ensure they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees in their work areas. Electronic access is permitted if it creates no barriers to immediate employee access. MSDS is the older name for the document. This page is general information; the regime that applies depends on the jurisdiction and the chemical.

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    What an SDS record holds in software

    • The product identity: name, supplier, product code, SDS revision date or version, and language.
    • Where the product is used: sites, departments, tasks and quantities, linked to the chemical inventory.
    • Key fields entered or extracted, such as hazard classification, signal word, exposure limits, protective measures, incompatibilities and storage class, each marked as verified by a person or not.
    • Review history: when each revision arrived, what changed, who read it and what action followed.
    • A link to the workplace assessment that used the sheet, because the sheet is not the assessment.
    • An access record showing how workers reach the sheet on shift, including any arrangement that works without a network.

    SDS, label and risk assessment

    The label gives a short, standardised hazard message at the point of use. The data sheet gives the detail needed for planning, handling, emergencies and disposal. Neither is a risk assessment, and HSE says so explicitly for the data sheet. A supplier's sheet describes the chemical as supplied, so it may not describe how your task uses, mixes or heats it; an in-house assessment or work instruction fills that gap. Older documents named MSDS may not follow the current format.

    A hypothetical example: a new degreaser arrives

    This case is invented to illustrate the record and describes no real site. A workshop buys a degreaser from a new supplier. The goods-in check finds no data sheet with the delivery, so the product is held until the supplier sends one. The sheet arrives with a revision date, and the safety officer compares the hazard, handling and storage, exposure control and incompatibility sections with how the task will really be done. The sheet warns against contact with certain materials that are stored in the same cabinet, so the storage is changed. The chemical's record is linked to its location, and the existing assessment for the cleaning task is revised to add protective equipment and ventilation steps.

    Two months later the supplier issues a revised sheet and the system flags it. The officer reads the change summary, sees that only the transport information changed, and records that no change to the assessment is needed. The record shows the date, the reader and the decision, so a later audit can see that the new revision was read and not just filed.

    Common misunderstandings about safety data sheets

    • An SDS is not a risk assessment. HSE says the employer should use it to help make its own assessment, which takes the task, the quantity and the people exposed into account.
    • A downloaded SDS is not necessarily the current or the right one. The revision date, supplier, product variant and language all matter.
    • A folder of sheets is not the same as workers being able to reach them. The US standard speaks of sheets being readily accessible during each work shift, and electronic access must not create barriers to it.
    • The 16 sections are a format and not a guarantee of completeness. A sheet can still be out of date or thin, so the user has to judge whether it answers the question being asked.
    • Rules differ between regimes. The EU format under REACH Annex II and the US format under 1910.1200 have the same 16-section structure in outline but are separate legal requirements, so record which one a sheet follows.

    How a safety data sheet relates to other glossary terms

    The sheet is an input to decisions recorded elsewhere, so it appears next to the terms for controls and for the environment.

    • PPE: the sheet's exposure-control section is one source for the protective equipment chosen in the employer's own assessment.
    • Hierarchy of controls: the sheet informs the options, but eliminating or substituting a hazardous chemical is decided in the assessment.
    • Confined space: solvent vapours and other atmospheres described in sheets feed the hazard assessment for entry.
    • ISO 14001: ecological and disposal information in sheets is one input to environmental aspect and waste records.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for SDS management

    • The chemical inventory showing each product, where it is held and in what quantity.
    • The current sheet for each product, with its revision date and source.
    • The workplace assessment that used the sheet, with its date and reviewer.
    • Records of review when a revised sheet arrived, including decisions that no change was needed.
    • Training or briefing records for people handling the product.
    • Evidence of how workers can reach the sheet during a shift.

    What a software tool needs to capture for safety data sheets

    • A product record that holds the revision date, supplier, language and the file itself, with older versions kept and marked superseded.
    • A link between each product, its locations and the assessments that rely on it.
    • Fields for key hazard data that show whether a person verified them, so extracted values are not treated as checked.
    • A revision workflow: flag a new version, show what changed, assign a reader and record the decision.
    • Access that works on shift, including offline or by a printed fall-back where connectivity is poor.
    • Search by product name, supplier or hazard, tolerant of trade-name variants.
    • A read-only export for an inspector or auditor.

    Catalog profiles documenting SDS management

    Each profile documents an SDS or chemical-register capability in its record. The list does not show that any product's extracted data is accurate or complete.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “Chemical Management”, with a sourced SDS library or chemical inventory capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 10 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Is an SDS a risk assessment?

    No. HSE states that a safety data sheet is not a risk assessment. Use the information in it to help make your own assessment of the task, quantity and people exposed.

    How often must an SDS be updated?

    The supplier is responsible for providing an up-to-date sheet, and EU Annex II requires a revised sheet to show where changes were made. Your process should say who reads a new revision and what follows. There is no universal review interval for your own copy.

    Can workers use an electronic SDS?

    US OSHA 1910.1200 permits electronic access as long as no barriers to immediate employee access are created. Check the rule that applies and test access during a shift.

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