Why msds

Daniels Health is here to act as a resource for any questions you may have around SDS management and how it relates to healthcare waste disposal.

Ask us for a consultation. Safety data sheets contain valuable information about specific chemicals substances and how to safely handle them. Some locations will have a number of potentially harmful substances in their supplies, storeroom or dispensaries, while others may only have one. Safety is key.

Not surprisingly, information about the substance includes its molecular and chemical properties. For this reason, many employees skip over that and miss important information such as a list of other possible trade names or even synonyms that identify with that particular substance.

Do you know how a single chemical acts in certain circumstances, or a combination of chemicals? The safety data sheet lists, identifies, and explains every component in that substance and how it behaves. Naturally, some locations have more exposure to such substances than others.

Yet even in a healthcare environment, a number of potentially hazardous chemicals that may be deemed toxic. For example, chemotherapy waste — chemotherapy drugs can be extremely toxic and must be handled and disposed of properly.

The safety data sheet also provides information on how to safely store such substances, as well as whether personal protective equipment PPE is needed when using the product. Most important is information regarding hazardous waste disposal of that substance. In addition, SDS sheets provide information about how stable or unstable the product is.

Stability and reactivity are two measures of hazardous substances. Also found in the SDS sheet is biological information about the product - in other words, how it may affect humans. Another very important aspect to watch for are SDS red flags. When it comes to safety data or hazardous substances, red flags should never be ignored nor underestimated.

This is especially true of items that fall under the category of different types of clinical waste, whether it comes from the cancer treatment center or from the housekeepers of your hospital. Some chemical substances found in hospital or any medical setting environment can:. Healthcare waste segregation is essential in properly categorizing, separating, handling, storage, and transportation as well as ultimate disposal of potentially dangerous substances.

Safety data sheets are all about safety and moving forward in a culture of safety within a business or healthcare environment. In most cases, safety data sheets prevent exposure to hazardous materials, especially those involving chemicals. Read them! A number of caustic chemicals are found within the healthcare industry, from cleaning fluids to chemotherapy drugs. Adequate healthcare waste management that adheres to regulations and guidelines pertaining to safety are important.

Do your employees, from janitorial and housekeeping staff to healthcare professionals involved in cancer treatments or other medical treatments that may be even slightly exposed to hazardous substances know how to deal with them? If not, training is recommended. The consistent format on the new Safety Data Sheets do not assure that the information in the new format will be any more accurate.

Skip to main navigation. What's the problem with Safety Data Sheets? Background: What is an SDS? Download the free OSH Answers app.

Search all fact sheets:. A Material Safety Data Sheet MSDS is a document that contains information on the potential hazards health, fire, reactivity and environmental and how to work safely with the chemical product. It is an essential starting point for the development of a complete health and safety program. It also contains information on the use, storage, handling and emergency procedures all related to the hazards of the material.

The MSDS contains much more information about the material than the label. MSDSs are prepared by the supplier or manufacturer of the material. It is intended to tell what the hazards of the product are, how to use the product safely, what to expect if the recommendations are not followed, what to do if accidents occur, how to recognize symptoms of overexposure, and what to do if such incidents occur.

These categories are specified in the Controlled Products Regulations and include:. Yes, as long as two conditions are met. All headings and subheadings that are on the MSDS must be addressed by providing the required information or by stating that the information is not available or not applicable, whichever is appropriate. Second, the statement "This product has been classified in accordance with the hazard criteria of the CPR and the MSDS contains all of the information required by the CPR" must appear under the section heading "Regulatory Information".

Traditionally the intended readers of MSDSs were occupational hygienists and safety professionals.