A Safety Data Sheet’s 16 sections contain important, even lifesaving, information on chemicals used in the workplace. Yet employers and workers can get tripped up when trying to comprehend the details

What’s in a safety data sheet?

Under the OSHA standard on hazard communication (1910.1200), safety data sheets are required “to be presented in a consistent user-friendly, 16-section format.” Here’s the information the agency says each section must contain.

Section 1: Identification. Includes identity of the chemical, its recommended uses and any restrictions of use.

Section 2: Hazard(s) identification. Contains hazard classification, signal word and appropriate pictograms.

Section 3: Composition/information on ingredients. Lists product ingredients, mixtures and chemicals where a trade secret is claimed.

Section 4: First aid measures. Describes initial care to be given to an individual who’s been exposed. 

Section 5: Firefighting measures. Recommendations for fighting a fire caused by the chemical. 

Section 6: Accidental release measures. Provides appropriate response to spills, leaks or releases, including containment and cleanup practices. 

Section 7: Handling and storage. Guidance on safe handling practices and conditions for safe storage.

Section 8: Exposure controls/personal protection. Indicates exposure limits, engineering controls and personal protective equipment measures to minimize exposure.

Section 9: Physical and chemical properties. Includes details about the chemical, such as appearance, odor, pH, flash point, flammability, etc. 

Section 10: Stability and reactivity. Describes the chemical’s hazards in three sections – reactivity, chemical stability and other.

Section 11: Toxicological information. Features delayed, immediate or chronic effects from short- and long-term exposure.

Section 12: Ecological information (nonmandatory). Includes information to evaluate the environmental impact of the chemical were it to be released. 

Section 13: Disposal considerations (nonmandatory). Proper disposal practices, recycling or reclamation of the chemical and its container. 

Section 14: Transport information (nonmandatory). Guidance for shipping and transporting the chemical by road, air, rail or sea.

Section 15: Regulatory information (nonmandatory). Lists safety, health and environmental regulations for the product not indicated elsewhere on the SDS.

Section 16: Other information. Details on when the SDS was prepared and its last known revision.

A focus on first aid

Although different workers will need to understand different sections of a safety data sheet, Richard Flynt, a senior safety consultant at the National Safety Council, places an emphasis on Section 4. It describes first aid measures and “the initial care that should be given by untrained responders to an individual who has been exposed to the chemical,” OSHA says.

“I overtrain and overcommunicate on how to go to the one section they will really need to know as workers in an emergency,” said Flynt, who has spent more than 20 years in the safety field. “I pass out SDSs and make it scenario based. ‘Bob just got some of this in his eye. What should he do?’”