Module 1

Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)

The Material Safety Data Sheet provides health and safety information to help about protection (including protective equipment), safe handling procedures, and emergency measures.

A Material Safety Data Sheet is a technical document which:

Lists all hazardous ingredients of a product;
Provides information related to safety and health hazards during handling, storage and use of a controlled product;
Outlines protective measures for workers;
Includes information about emergency procedures.

Categories of Information

An MSDS must contain these 9 categories of information.

1. Product Identification

This information can be used to organize the data sheets for quick retrieval. The information in this section must be identical with the identifier on the supplier label.

2. Hazardous Ingredients

This information will list the chemicals in the product. It can help determine the exposure time when working with the material.

3. Physical Data

This block of information describes the product's physical characteristics under normal conditions. Descriptions will include appearance, colour, consistency and odour.

4. Fire or Explosion Hazard

This category explains how to prevent a fire or an explosion. Emergency Procedures can also be established based on this information

5. Reactivity Data

This information will indicate how stable the product is and whether it can react with other chemicals or unusual circumstances.

6. Toxicological Data

This information describes how a material can enter the body and what short-and long-term health effects may occur due to over-exposure.

7. Preventative Measures

This block of information describes the protective measures for worker health and safety.

8. First Aid Measures

This section describes what to do for the immediate treatment of short-term (acute) health effects due to over-exposure.

9. Preparation Information

This section will show the date that the data sheet was prepared.

In addition, it is usually necessary to supplement this with safe handling procedures that are specific to the workplace.

Supplier Responsibilities

Develop or obtain an MSDS for each controlled product. and provide it with each purchase.
Ensure that the MSDS is current at the time of sale, and that it was prepared no more than three (3) years before the date of sale or importation.

Employer Responsibilities

Obtain an up-to-date MSDS the first time a controlled product is received in the workplace
Obtain up-to-date MSDS when the production date is 3 years old.
Add any new hazard information to the MSDS if the supplier is unable to provide an updated data sheet. New information must be added as soon as possible, within 90 days of notification.
when the production date of the sheet is longer than 3 years
Ensure that all copies of data sheets are readily available
Ensure that workers who use (or are in proximity to) a controlled product receive training in the content data sheet and the significant of the information it provides.
Provide medical professionals with relevant MSDS information in the event of a workplace accident.

MSDS Terminology

Acute Exposure	A single exposure to a substance or multiple exposures occurring within a short time, usually 24 hours or less.
Allergens	Substances, which trigger the body's immune response and produce an allergic response.
Asphyxiants	Substances, which replace oxygen, eventually, making breathing impossible.
Auto-ignition Temperature	Temperature at which the vapour from a liquid will ignite without a source of ignition such as a spark or flame.
Carcinogens	Substances or agents capable of causing cancer in mammals.
Ceiling Exposure Limit [C or CEL]	The maximum concentration of a chemical to which one may be exposed at any time. This value is never to be exceeded without special precautions.
Chronic Exposure	Repeated exposure to a substance over a relatively long period of time [typically more than ten per cent of lifetime in laboratory studies]
Combustible Liquid	Liquids with flash points 100 F [37.8 C] or more, but less than 93.3 F [200 C] when tested in accordance with an established procedure.
Flammable Limits	The upper and lower concentrations of a gas or vapour in air between which an explosion or propagation of flame will occur when an ignition source is present.
Flammable Liquid	A liquid with a flash point below 100 F [38.7 C.] when tested in accordance with an established procedure
Flash Point	The minimum temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapour to ignite in the presence of a source of ignition under specified test conditions.
Half Life	The period of time for a chemical or radioactive substance to lose half its concentration or activity due to metabolic uptake, decay, or other chemical change.
I.D.L.H.	Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health An atmosphere where the concentration of oxygen or flammable or toxic air contaminants would cause a person without respiratory protection to be fatally injured or would cause irreversible and incapacitating effects on that person's health.
Irritants	Substances, which cause reddening, itching or pain to exposed bodily parts.
LC50 and LD50	These are not exposure criteria, but represent the concentrations taken orally or inhaled, which killed about 50% of a test population. A low LC or LD50 quantity indicates the relative toxicity of a substance.
Mutagen	Substances that cause genetic mutation in living cells. May occur in either reproductive or body cells.
Odour Threshold	The lowest airborne concentration of a chemical that can be perceived by the sense of smell
PPM	Parts per million. A measure of the concentration of a gas or vapour in the air.
Pictogram	Refers to the stylized graphical material, which appears within a hazard symbol.
Poisons	Any substances which injurious to health when taken into the body.
Polymerization of energy	A chemical reaction in which one or more small molecules combine to form larger molecules. A hazardous polymerization is one that takes place at a rate, which releases large amounts.
Risk Phrase	A statement identifying a hazard that may arise from the nature of the controlled product or the class, division or subdivision of controlled products.
Sensitizer	A substance which on first exposure causes little or no reaction in human or test animals, but which on repeated exposure may cause a marked response not necessarily limited to the contact site. Skin sensitization is the most common form in industry, although respiratory tract sensitization also occurs.
Short Term Exposure Limit [STEL]	The maximum exposure limit to which one may exposed for a brief (generally 15 minute) period for a maximum of 4 such periods per day, without suffering serious health effects.
Solvent	A liquid, which will dissolve another substance.
Synergist	An agent or substance that augments or increases the activity or effects of another agent or substance. Often increases the dangerous effects of the mixture.
TDG	Refers to Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act
Teratogen	Substances that can deform a fetus or cause birth defects.
Threshold Limit Value [TLV]	A term used by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists [ACGIH] to express the airborne concentration of a material to which nearly all persons can be exposed day after day, without adverse effects.
Time Weighted Average [TWA]	The airborne concentration of a substance to which a person is exposed when calculated as a weighted average over a period of time [usually 8 hours].
Vapour	The gaseous form of a substance that is found in a solid or liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure
Vapour Pressure	The pressure exerted by a saturated vapour above its own liquid in a closed container.
Warning Properties	The capability of chemicals to be noticed by human senses at levels in the air below those which may cause ill health effects

There are five "self-test" questions for this section. If you think you're ready, go to Question 1 now. If you think you'd like another look at the content before you test yourself, go back to Responsibilities, or to the beginning of the module.