Skip to main content
    QHSEtech
    All templatesChemicals · 4 pages · Updated 20 October 2026

    SDS Summary & Chemical Register Template

    PDF ExcelFree, no email

    Four-page SDS summary and chemical register. Pages 1 to 3 summarise one safety data sheet: the product and supplier, the SDS date and version and where the full SDS is held, the hazard class, signal word, pictograms and hazard statements copied from the SDS, the key sections to copy (first aid, firefighting, spill, handling and storage, exposure controls, disposal), exposure limits with a source, storage incompatibilities, the quantity on site, where it is used, who is exposed, an emergency contact and the review date. Page 4 is a register with one line per product and a blank storage segregation matrix. The form summarises an SDS and never replaces reading it, and it supplies no classification: you write every hazard entry from your own SDS. Label and SDS requirements differ by system, because the GHS is a United Nations system that countries and regions put into their own rules. It is not the workplace exposure assessment record or the risk assessment matrix, and a completed form does not show that you meet a legal requirement.

    What's inside

    Pages 1 to 3: one product (print once for each)

    1. Product and supplier: product name exactly as on the SDS and the label, register number, CAS number (or mixture), the supplier named on the SDS with its emergency telephone number, who wrote the summary and what the product is used for
    2. The SDS you hold, and where: SDS date from section 16, version or revision number, language, the rules the SDS says it follows, where the full SDS is held, and the date it was last checked against the supplier's latest
    3. Hazard information, copied from SDS section 2: hazard class and category as written, signal word and pictograms (tick only what the SDS shows), hazard statements, and other hazards the SDS names
    4. Key SDS sections to copy: first aid (section 4), firefighting (5), spill or accidental release (6), handling and storage (7), exposure controls and personal protection (8) and disposal (13)
    5. Exposure limits: chemical, TWA (8 hr), STEL (15 min), ceiling, units, and the source and date of each value
    6. Storage incompatibilities: incompatible materials and conditions to avoid from sections 7 and 10, and how the product is kept apart
    7. Use on this site: quantity on site, where used, where stored, who is exposed, how exposure can happen and the controls in place, and whether an exposure assessment is done
    8. People and emergency contact: who was told where the SDS is, the contact on site and the supplier's emergency contact
    9. Review and sign-off: review date, triggers for an earlier review, a review log and two signatures

    Page 4: the whole site

    1. Register of products: one line per product with number, name, CAS number, supplier, where stored and used, quantity, SDS date and version, where the full SDS is held, signal word and last review
    2. Storage segregation matrix: flammable, oxidiser, acid, base, toxic and other, left blank so you mark each pair from the SDSs

    The section titles and tick lists are ours, to change. The form prints no classification, limit or storage rule for you.

    What requires or shapes this record

    The register is where two duties meet: keeping a list of hazardous chemicals tied to their safety data sheets, and assessing the exposure they create. These provisions set what each column has to hold. Rules differ by place. The GHS is a United Nations system, and HSE describes it as a voluntary agreement that has to be adopted through a national or regional legal mechanism: Great Britain does so through the GB CLP Regulation, the United States through 29 CFR 1910.1200 and Canada through WHMIS. So the pictograms, the layout of an SDS and the way you must hold it can differ from one country to the next, and this form does not decide which rules apply to you. It holds what your own SDS says, and it summarises an SDS and never replaces reading it: HSE says a safety data sheet is not a risk assessment, and CCOHS says the SDS may not contain everything you need for your own use. Not legal advice.

    • 29 CFR 1910.1200(a)(1), (e)(1)(i), (g), (h) and (j) (US; eCFR text current to 16 October 2026, opened 20 October 2026)

      The standard says it is intended to be consistent with the United Nations GHS, primarily Revision 7 (a)(1), and its definition of a pictogram says eight pictograms are designated for application to a hazard category. The written hazard communication programme includes a list of the hazardous chemicals known to be present, using a product identifier that is referenced on the appropriate safety data sheet, for the whole workplace or by work area (e)(1)(i). Employers shall have a safety data sheet in the workplace for each hazardous chemical they use (g)(1). An SDS has sixteen numbered sections in a fixed order, and section 16 is other information, including the date of preparation or last revision (g)(2). Two notes to (g)(2) say that to be consistent with the GHS an SDS must also include the headings of sections 12 to 15 in order, and that OSHA will not be enforcing information requirements in those sections. New significant hazard information is added to the SDS within three months of the preparer learning it (g)(5). The employer keeps the SDSs readily accessible to employees in their work areas during each work shift, and electronic access is allowed as long as no barriers to immediate access are created (g)(8). Employees are told the location and availability of the written programme, the list of hazardous chemicals and the SDSs (h)(2)(iii). Paragraph (j) sets staged dates for the revised standard (for substances, 19 May 2026 for manufacturers and importers and 20 November 2026 for employers' updates; for mixtures, 19 November 2027 and 19 May 2028) and allows either the revised text or the text revised as of 1 July 2023 during the transition, so the date and version on an SDS matter.

    • COSHH Regulations 2002, reg. 6 (UK, Great Britain)

      In Great Britain the COSHH assessment must be made before work that is liable to expose employees to a substance hazardous to health, and it must consider, among other things, the supplier's information on health effects including any relevant safety data sheet (6(2)(b)), the level, type and duration of exposure (6(2)(c)), the circumstances of the work including the amount of the substance involved (6(2)(d)) and any relevant workplace exposure limit (6(2)(f)). It must be reviewed regularly, and at once if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid, there has been a significant change in the work or monitoring shows it to be necessary (6(3)). Employers with five or more employees record the significant findings (6(4)). Regulation 12 separately requires information, instruction and training that includes access to any relevant safety data sheet (12(2)(a)(iii)). The regulations do not mention a register or a summary form; this page is a voluntary record of the inputs to the assessment.

    • GB CLP Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 as it applies in Great Britain), Annex V and Article 17; HSE pages on the GB CLP Regulation, chemical safety data sheets and the COSHH risk assessment

      Annex V on legislation.gov.uk lists nine hazard pictograms, GHS01 to GHS09 (exploding bomb, flame, flame over circle, gas cylinder, corrosion, skull and crossbones, exclamation mark, health hazard and environment). Article 17 says a label on hazardous packaging carries the supplier's name, address and telephone number, product identifiers, and where applicable pictograms, signal words, hazard statements and precautionary statements. The legislation.gov.uk text was read as published there; later GB amendments to the pictogram list were not checked, so confirm what is current with HSE. HSE's GB CLP page (hse.gov.uk/chemical-classification/legal/clp-regulation.htm) says the GHS is a voluntary agreement rather than a law and must be adopted through a legal mechanism, that Great Britain continues to adopt it independently of the EU, and that Northern Ireland is subject to the EU CLP Regulation. HSE's page on chemical safety data sheets (hse.gov.uk/coshh/basics/datasheets.htm) says an SDS describes the hazards and gives information on handling, storage and emergency measures, that suppliers must provide an up-to-date one for a substance that is dangerous for supply, and, in a caution, that a safety data sheet is not a risk assessment. HSE's page on how to carry out a COSHH risk assessment (hse.gov.uk/coshh/basics/assessment.htm) tells employers to read labels and SDSs to identify harmful substances, to think about maintenance workers, contractors and visitors who could be exposed, and to check that storage containers are labelled and that incompatible materials, for example acids and caustics, are separated.

    • CCOHS OSH Answers, WHMIS: Safety Data Sheet (SDS) (Canada; fact sheet last revised 28 May 2026)

      CCOHS says Canada has aligned WHMIS with the GHS, that the supplier requirements are in the Hazardous Products Act and Hazardous Products Regulations, that the workplace rules are set by the provinces, territories and the federal government with small variations between jurisdictions, and that an SDS must be in both English and French. Schedule 1 of the Regulations sets 16 sections in a fixed order; the page lists, among the elements, an emergency telephone number in section 1, the hazard classification and label elements in section 2, first-aid, fire-fighting and accidental release measures in sections 4 to 6, incompatible materials under safe storage in section 7 and under stability and reactivity in section 10, control parameters and the source of those values in section 8, disposal considerations in section 13 and the date of the latest revision in section 16. For sections 12 to 15 the headings must be present but the supplier may leave out information. It says suppliers must keep an SDS accurate at the time of sale and update it within 90 days of becoming aware of significant new data, and that the employer's duty to update or seek updated SDSs depends on the jurisdiction (an active request every three years in federally regulated workplaces and several provinces and territories, within 90 days of significant new information in others). It also says an SDS is a summary document, is not necessarily all the information you need, and that a computerised SDS is allowed when workers can use the device and a hard copy can be given on request.

    Each source checked on 20 October 2026. Not legal advice; check the text in force for your site.

    Field by field

    The form summarises an SDS and never replaces reading it, so most fields are places to copy from the SDS and to say where the full document is. The form supplies no classification, pictogram, signal word, limit or storage rule: you write each from your own SDS, and a blank means not yet checked. Page 4 and the tick lists are ours and can be changed; keep the same headings between products so that summaries can be compared.

    Product name
    Why: The link between the register, the label and the SDS. 29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(1)(i) asks for a list using a product identifier that is referenced on the SDS. The CAS number beside it identifies a substance unambiguously; for a mixture, write mixture and take the hazardous components from SDS section 3.
    Common mistake: In-house nicknames ("blue degreaser") that nobody can match to an SDS during a spill, or one ingredient's CAS number entered for a whole mixture.
    Supplier named on the SDS
    Why: Who to ask for the current revision. CCOHS lists the supplier identifier and an emergency telephone number among the elements of SDS section 1, so the supplier's own emergency number is copied here too.
    Common mistake: Recording the distributor when the SDS comes from the manufacturer, so update requests go to the wrong place.
    SDS date
    Why: The revision date is in SDS section 16 (29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)(xvi); CCOHS lists the date of the latest revision), so comparing it with the supplier's latest is how you know whether the SDS you hold is current. In Great Britain, REACH Article 31(6) as it applies there says the SDS shall be dated, and Article 31(9) says the supplier updates it without delay when new hazard or risk management information arrives, the new version being marked 'Revision: (date)'. Write the version or revision number as well, because some SDSs carry both.
    Common mistake: Recording the date the file was opened or printed instead of the revision date, so a 2019 SDS looks current.
    Where the full SDS is held
    Why: OSHA's (g)(8) asks that SDSs be readily accessible to employees in their work areas during each work shift, with electronic access allowed if it creates no barrier to immediate access. CCOHS says a computerised SDS needs working devices, trained workers and a hard copy on request. Name the exact place so a person on any shift can reach it.
    Common mistake: A link that needs a VPN or an office login: a barrier to immediate access.
    Hazard class and category
    Why: Taken from SDS section 2 and written as the SDS gives it. OSHA's definitions call a hazard class the nature of the physical or health hazard and a hazard category the division of criteria within a class. The form supplies nothing here, because the classification belongs to the supplier's assessment of that product.
    Common mistake: Typing a class from memory, from a similar product or from a web search instead of copying the SDS.
    Signal word and pictograms
    Why: Label elements shown in SDS section 2. OSHA's definition uses danger for the more severe hazards and warning for the less severe. Symbol lists differ by system: Annex V of GB CLP names nine pictograms and 29 CFR 1910.1200 designates eight, with no environment pictogram. Tick what your SDS shows.
    Common mistake: Taking symbols from SDS section 14, which holds transport information, instead of section 2.
    Hazard statements
    Why: Hazard statements describe the nature of the hazard and appear on the label (29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(1)(iii); GB CLP Article 17). Copy the codes if the SDS gives them, and always the wording, because the person who has to act on the page needs the words.
    Common mistake: Copying only a code, which means nothing to the person reading the page in an emergency.
    Key SDS sections to copy
    Why: First aid (section 4), firefighting (5), accidental release (6), handling and storage (7), exposure controls and personal protection (8) and disposal (13) are what people need to act on a task or in an emergency. The headings are those in 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2) and in CCOHS's list of Schedule 1. Copy the key lines and keep the full SDS as the document that counts.
    Common mistake: Rewording a first aid or spill instruction, so the summary says something the SDS does not, or leaving section 13 blank when the SDS says no information is given. Write that, so a blank means unchecked and not unknown.
    Exposure limits
    Why: SDS section 8 gives control parameters, and CCOHS says the source of the values is given with them. COSHH reg. 6(2)(f) names any relevant workplace exposure limit as something the assessment considers, and Table Z-1 of 29 CFR 1910.1000 sets US limits, which are 8-hour time-weighted averages unless preceded by C for a ceiling. Labelling each value with its source keeps a US limit and a UK limit apart.
    Common mistake: Leaving the source blank, then comparing monitoring results with the wrong limit.
    Storage incompatibilities
    Why: Incompatible materials are listed under conditions for safe storage in SDS section 7 and under stability and reactivity in section 10 (CCOHS). HSE's COSHH assessment page tells employers to check that incompatible materials, for example acids and caustics, are separated. Note the distance, bund or barrier you set, which the SDS may not give.
    Common mistake: Relying on a generic chart instead of this product's own SDS.
    Storage segregation matrix
    Why: A site-wide check before products are shelved together, collecting the decisions made from each SDS in one grid. It is blank on purpose: the SDS, not a printed chart, says what is incompatible. A pair you have not decided stays blank.
    Common mistake: Marking a pair as safe to store together because nothing says otherwise, before the SDS of both products has been read.
    Quantity on site
    Why: COSHH reg. 6(2)(d) lists the amount of the substance involved among the circumstances of the work, and a responder needs to know how much there is and where. Record the most held at one time and the usual amount, in units, with the container sizes.
    Common mistake: A site total with no location or container size, or a quantity nobody has counted since the product was bought.
    Where it is used
    Why: Use and storage can be in different rooms, and exposure happens where it is used, in tasks such as decanting, mixing or cleaning. HSE's COSHH assessment page asks who might be harmed and how, and what you already do to control the risks.
    Common mistake: Writing only the department, so nobody can tell which room or task is meant.
    Who is exposed
    Why: HSE's assessment page says to think about anyone else who could be exposed, including maintenance workers, contractors, visitors and members of the public. COSHH reg. 12(2)(a)(iii) includes access to any relevant SDS in the training, and 29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(2)(iii) says employees are told where the SDSs are.
    Common mistake: Listing only the people who use the product and leaving out cleaners, maintenance staff and contractors.
    Emergency contact
    Why: In an incident the page is read by someone who may not know the product. The contact on site and the supplier's emergency number from SDS section 1 give two places to ask. HSE says to plan for foreseeable emergencies, including how you would make such information available to the emergency services.
    Common mistake: The name of someone who has left, or a number that nobody answers out of hours.
    Review date
    Why: COSHH reg. 6(3) says the assessment shall be reviewed regularly and at once if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or the work changes significantly. The summary holds inputs to that assessment, so check it against the supplier's latest SDS on a date you set, and earlier when a new revision arrives or the use changes. In Canada the employer's duty to seek updated SDSs depends on the jurisdiction (CCOHS).
    Common mistake: A review date with no triggers, so a new SDS revision is not read until the date comes round.
    Register of products
    Why: 29 CFR 1910.1200(e)(1)(i) asks for a list of the hazardous chemicals known to be present, using the product identifier on the SDS, for the workplace or by work area. One line per product, with the SDS date and where the full SDS is held, shows at a glance which products have no SDS and which SDSs are old.
    Common mistake: A register and a folder of SDSs that do not match: a product with no SDS, or an SDS for a product no longer on site.

    Worked example

    IllustrativeFour register rows (invented site and invented SDS entries; substance data from OSHA Table Z-1)

    Product (as on SDS)CAS #Location · quantitySDS date, version · held atSignal word (as the invented SDS gives it)Limit and noteLast review
    Acetone67-64-1Flammables cabinet FC-1, workshop · 4 × 5 L = 20 L2025-11, v3 · binder A2 and shared driveDangerOSHA PEL 1000 ppm, 8 h TWA; pictograms and hazard statements copied from section 22026-10-12
    Isopropyl alcohol 99%67-63-0Flammables cabinet FC-1 · 2 × 5 L = 10 L2024-03, v5 · binder A2DangerOSHA PEL 400 ppm, 8 h TWA2026-10-12
    Sodium hydroxide solution 50%1310-73-2Water treatment room, bunded · 1 × 25 L = 25 L2025-06, v2 · binder A2DangerOSHA PEL 2 mg/m³; section 7 of the invented SDS says keep apart from acids2026-10-12
    "FloorStrip 20" (invented mixture)Mixture; see section 3Cleaner's store · 1 × 20 L = 20 L2019-02, v1 · binder B1WarningNo limit listed; supplier asked to confirm the 2019 revision is current2026-10-12

    Cabinet FC-1 holds 20 L + 10 L = 30 L of flammable liquid; the four rows hold 75 L in all (20 + 10 + 25 + 20). The signal words are what the invented SDSs say: write the ones on your own. The PEL figures are the Table Z-1 values in 29 CFR 1910.1000. A UK site would record the workplace exposure limit instead and name that source.

    When a spreadsheet stops being enough

    A register of 30 products in one store fits a spreadsheet and a folder of SDSs. It stops fitting when SDS revisions have to be chased from dozens of suppliers, when the same product sits in ten locations with different quantities, and when workers need the current SDS on a phone during a spill.

    Software can add a supplier SDS library with revision alerts, container-level inventory by location and offline SDS access. Ask how a product handles an SDS you hold that is newer than the one in its library, and whether its summary fields are copied from the SDS or generated for you.

    Whatever you use, the SDS from the supplier stays the document that counts, and your own risk assessment stays a separate record.

    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.

    Reuse and credit

    Licensed CC BY 4.0: copy, adapt and share this template, also commercially, if you credit it, link to the licence and say if you changed it, without suggesting that QHSEtech endorses you. What the licence covers.

    Credit line

    SDS Summary & Chemical Register Template by QHSEtech (https://qhsetech.com/templates/sds-summary-template), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

    HTML for a web page

    <a href="https://qhsetech.com/templates/sds-summary-template">SDS Summary &amp; Chemical Register Template</a> by <a href="https://qhsetech.com">QHSEtech</a>, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>

    Related guides