Australia's Science Forum

Just going through our MSDS and updating ones dated before 2002. I noticed that a lot of them have not changed at all only the issue date is new. Do I still need to re print the new version, where only the date is changed? I am talking sheets and sheets of paper. Any suggestions?
Lada

If the issue date is new, different to the one you have. Then you need to reprint, yes I know it can mean lots of paper.

Hope that helps

Afraid so worksafe go on teh date issued regardless that they may be word for word the same - I cut the old ones up and sue them as note pads and such like - not much help i realise !

Thanks, guys. I thought so, just wanted to check.
Lada

This is the current chemical labelling and MSDS legislation from Workcover NSW. It states:



What does the law say about providing labels and
MSDS in workplaces?
Legal obligations are specified in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001 (OHS Regulation).
Manufacturers are required to classify chemicals and prepare Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).
Importers must ensure that the manufacturer’s responsibilities are met.
Suppliers are required to provide labels on containers and MSDS for those chemicals classified as
hazardous substances or dangerous goods that they supply to workplaces.
Bulk containers, such as tanks, sent to your workplace must have placards that indicate their dangerous
goods classification if they contain dangerous goods.
If chemicals are transferred to other containers, such as by decanting, suitable labelling needs to be
maintained, similar to that on the original container unless the chemical is consumed immediately
in a process.
Employers must ensure that labels are applied to containers and that MSDS are made accessible to
workers who may be exposed to the chemicals. All hazardous substances and dangerous goods used in
the workplace must be listed on a register together with the relevant MSDS. Employees must have access
to this register. Training should ensure that workers who use chemicals can read and understand relevant
labels and MSDS.

Thanks, Richard

Just remember that different States and Territories have different OH&S legislation so what might be acceptable practice under the legislation in NSW might not be acceptable elsewhere in Australia

Obviously - this is applicable to NSW only, I posted it here as most of the posts were by NSW lab assistants

Hello learned people.
My MSDS es hit 5 years old early next year and will need replacing. At the moment most of them are generic ones printed from Chemwatch, but I have heard different people say that supplier MSDS should be used. I believe most suppliers do not have SDS format yet, but chemwatch has. I also like the fact that chem watch MSDS have a common format, theoretically making them easier to read and get information from. Is there any legislation around this? Does it differ from state to state? If you use supplier MSDS (SDS) what do you do for soulutions or dilutions?

I want to make sure I'm doing this correctly (or as correctly as possible) before I go replacing them all.

Thankyou.

Hi Curie,
You can directly ask chemwatch this question to get an accurate answer, email icon is at top of the webpage. I thought that
all chemicals had to have a MSDS supplied, its law.I always type in supplier in chem watch too.Sometimes I get it.
And when I went to chemwatch training "Josh" told us that MSDS should be updated every 3 years., But you don't have to have printed copies of the full MSDS for class use(I just print the mini MSDS), But you must have a manifest containing the FULL MSDS somewhere you can access, that is where a chemwatch manifest is great, so you can have a MSDS connected to your manifest/chemical stocktake and not have a drawer full of paper.It's stored online.
I hope chemwatch can answer about the legislation of the manufacture MSDS for you, let us know what they reply.
Trish

curie
Firstly, all MSDSs have an issue date on them, they are only valid for five years from that date, after which they need to be replaced. So instead of it being a big job every 5 years, it is something that actually needs to be checked on constantly, although realistically ours only get checked every 12 months.

My understanding of the new legislation is that MSDSs will eventually all have to conform to a standard layout although suppliers will have a period of time to comply with these changes. I think it may be five years but I'm not 100% sure on this. Personally, I don't feel that the MSDSs supplied by Chemwatch are always the best option. It would be okay if it is from the correct supplier but the generic ones could be doubtful. The Hazardous Goods Code of Practice issued by Workcover (under the old legislation) clearly states that MSDSs supplied by a third party were not acceptable. I don't know if this will change with the legislation.

One of the arguments I've heard for not keeping paper copies of your MSDS and instead having them on a database (such as Chemwatch) is what happens if there is a blackout? Or, do all employees have access to a computer eg cleaners, casual staff etc. Just a thought. I'm a fence sitter on that one.

At this point in time, I'm waiting on confirmation as to the effect the new WHS legislation will have on us. Workcover usually allow phase in periods (hence I'm not panicked about my labelling just yet either), so I don't think I'll be carted off to Berrima Gaol just yet.

M.

You'll be by yourself at Berrima Gaol as it is now closed!!! HAHA!!

As far as I am concerned Merilyn is spot on about the online manifest of MSDS's. It is not accessible in an emergency and you need to have a full paper copy somewhere on site. We have ours in the main office and folders of mini's in the prep rooms. I check mine at the end of the year (just because it is my least busy time) and update any with new versions to keep them as up to date as possible. Keep an eye out for any that have changed significantly as you may need to change labels too!
Not sure about the supplier MSDS though, have been wondering that myself. We got told it was fine to use the mini ones as long as we had full ones onsite but supplier ones don't have mini versions unless it is a Chemwatch one. Plus it would make it a much more difficult job checking the dates on the MSDS as I just print out a report from Chemwatch and look for the ones that have been updated since I last did it.

Hi Nickykinz, I am very interested in "as I just print out a report from Chemwatch and look for the ones that have been updated since I last did it." Quote. How on earth do you do that, I would love to know, please.

We had a fire at the school 2 years ago and all power was cut off. Fire brigade was able to use the chemical register and paper copies of MSDS to find out where all the chemicals were stored and what they were.

We got a letter from them in appreciation as it made their job easier and safer.

Ann

Go into Manifest (at top of screen) then on the left hand side click on the stores you want to look at or just click on manifest if you are doing the whole thing. Once all the chemicals appear find the button on the right hand side “report generator” (looks like a spreadsheet). Clicking on that brings up a box with all the options of things to include (click on expand all so you can see them all). I use this to do my hazardous substance register and inventories so I always do issue date, material name, label signal word, DG class and subrisk and location path. This will tell you what it is, where it is and whether it is dangerous or hazardous. If you just want to check MSDS dates you need to have at least material name and issue date. Then you just put output to English and Excel and submit. It can come out looking a bit garbled but once you have the spreadsheet you can move stuff around and sort it how you want it, just like you would normally do in Excel.
You need to know when you last checked them so you can look for dates after that date but, as we have 5 years grace, if you miss some that changed just after you last checked it will get picked up the following year. You may need to do it with the folders in front of you so you can check any you are not sure of. This only identifies them so you still have to go in and print them off manually, unfortunately.

Thank you thank, I have printed out and I'll try this out over the weekend. It does look good.

In my opinion a generic MSDS for "pure" chemicals is fine - theoretically the hazard properties for potassium iodide supplied by Joe Bloggs will be the same for that supplied by the Queen! (Unfortunately I know that different suppliers MSDS's in practice often have slightly different or conflicting information.) And if you had to have a separate MSDS for the 1M potassium chloride you prepared from each different supply lot as well that would be far too much paperwork!

In the case of mixtures, and especially proprietary formulations, a supplier MSDS would be the way to go...Chemwatch do have some of these...

Only chemiclas you ordered from supplier,concentrated or diluted, have to have suppliers or manufacturer SDS. All dilutions can have chemwatch, generic label.

We were never trained to have MSDS on diluted solutions. Only on concentrated stock, it is some where in CSIS. A lot of solutions are NOT haz once made up, or perhaps it is only for DEC schools. Who knows??????????????????????? Any way some one has just taken it too far