A property usually has pockets of different hazardous chemicals. Here are a handful of examples. In the kitchen, there are oven cleaners. Housekeeping has various janitorial and cleaning materials. Activities may use chemicals in craft projects. Facilities uses a variety of chemicals for insects control, landscaping/grounds, cleaning, etc.. Each applicable chemical needs a MSDS sheet available to staff.
Some questions:
- Who has overall responsibility of the MSDS program (obtaining and maintaining MSDS sheets)? Depending on your staffing, sometimes the facilities or property department may have the overall responsibility.
- How often do you review your written hazardous communication plan? Is it part of your risk management plan?
More information, including steps to develop a plan. OHSA Hazard Communication Guidelines for Compliance http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3111.html
MSDS Resource site http://www.msds.com/
Below is background info
MSDS (material safety data sheet) sheet availability.
http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3111.html (same link as above)
“Employers must have an MSDS for each hazardous chemical which they use…MSDSs must be readily accessible to employees when they are in their work areas during their workshifts. This may be accomplished in many different ways. You must decide what is appropriate for your particular workplace. Some employers keep the MSDSs in a binder in a central location (e.g., in the pickup truck on a construction site.) Others, particularly in workplaces with large numbers of chemicals, computerize the information and provide access through terminals. As long as employees can get the information when they need it, any approach may be used”
From Wikipedia. A material safety data sheet (MSDS), safety data sheet (SDS), or product safety data sheet (PSDS) is an important component of product stewardship and workplace safety. It is intended to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point, etc.), toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill-handling procedures.