By June 2015, all chemical companies must be providing the
new 16 section Safety Data Sheet (SDS) documents.
The project to convert these important documents by June of
next year could be extremely difficult; especially for distributors or repackagers
of chemicals. These companies distribute
thousands of different compounds from many different vendors. Producing SDS documents using your brand and
company names for all these products will take time and work. But could this process be made easier?
To complete this process relatively quickly and easily, you
may want to consider Hank Solutions, http://www.hanksolutions.co.uk/Products/Software, SDS Online. SDS
Online is a complete online software solution to create GHS compliant safety
data sheets and labels. This application
is specifically designed to be user friendly and very easy to use. According to Darren Mitchinson, Technical
Director for Hank Solutions, “We designed SDS Online, specifically to make it
easy for companies to build SDS documents; at a very affordable price. Once the SDS is built, our software converts
the SDS information to standard GHS labels.”
To start the process, I logged into the SDS Online software at the following: http://chemsoftware.co.uk/SDSonline and set up my company profile located in “Settings”.
Next I go to the “Datasheet Manager” to search to see if the
product is already available in the database.
SDS Online makes SDS information available to everyone as a part of the
Software as a Service. To see if
information was available, I searched Acetyl Chloride both the product name and
CAS number. This product is not in the
database.
As it was not in the database, I needed to create a new
SDS. Once I selected create, SDS Online
presented me the information to add in logical order using a “Stoplight” system:
In this picture, you can see section 1 is completed and "green"; with the other 15 sections needing to be completed.
After section 1, you complete section 9; chemical physical
properties by copying and pasting the information. In addition, you can add standard phrases by
highlighting on the right side of the document and selecting “Add”.
Once a section is completed, selecting “update” will turn
section 9 stoplight “Green”.
In section 10, you add standard phrases or type/paste in
phrases listed in the SDS; and then update.
You continue to complete each of the sections using this
same approach. To complete each
category, you can select from the available default phrases, add your own
phrase, or paste the suggested phrase from either SDS Online or from the
original SDS. Assuming I was using a
supplier’s SDS with their approval, I found copying and pasting the information
the easiest.
Depending on your perspective, I found one good and bad
aspect of SDS Online. Each section must
be completed in order to proceed. This
requirement is great for most sections.
In some sections, however, the SDS I was using as my template did not
have any information. Therefore, I had
to add something to save the data in a section.
I’ve learned however, the
actual REACH Law legislates that each section of the SDS must be completed. If
no information is available, you can set a default phrase for "no
information available" and just add this comment.
Once all the sections are completed, you process the
document; and download a copy of the 16 section SDS: 7 pages in this test case.
Once you have a SDS, you can build a GHS Label by selecting
“Labeling”. In this section, you search
for the product you want the label. Once
found, you can add the variable information for the label at the bottom prior
to printing.
By selecting “Build Label”, you get a PDF of your label to
print. Using my TM-C3500, I printed this
GHS Label for my example product.
In the near future, SDS Online will be adding a
feature that I believe will give you options to design GHS Labels to fit your
particular requirements better. Soon,
you’ll be able to download the information into an Excel file to create a GHS
database. Using an application like BarTender, you’ll be able to set up a
template and connect to your GHS database.
Then you’ll be able to create exactly the GHS Label designs you
want. If you want to see how to create
these types of templates, review my blog post on this topic:
Three Key Points I need to add.
First, you should start using SDS Online by
editing or adding you default phrases for each section. By selecting “Datasheet Phrases” and
reviewing each section, you can set up or edit your standard phrases.
Second, if you're a distributor or reseller of
many products with similar hazards, you can create one product/SDS and select “Use As Template”. This step
enables you to create further SDS’s by completing section 1 and then applying
the template to build the rest of the SDS. Total time can actually be
under one minute.
Third, if you require professional advice on how to classify
your products, then SDS may not be for you.
SDS does not provide recommendations or advice to help you build your
SDS.
SDS Online seems to be a good way to adapt your vendor’s
SDS’s to create your own GHS documents.
Plus, this cloud-based application is affordable. If you like to learn more or demo the cloud application, contact us.
Guy Mikel
855-962-7670
#colorlabels
#ghslabels
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