What products are exempt from SDS?
Exempt items generally include food or alcoholic beverages which are sold, used, or prepared in a retail establishment (such as a grocery store, restaurant, or drinking place), and foods intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace.
For non-hazardous chemicals, OSHA does not require employers to maintain SDSs. A chemical is considered as non-hazardous only if the chemical is not classified as a health hazard, an environmental hazard, or a physical hazard.
Some types of products are excluded from labeling and SDS requirements because they're regulated by other laws. Three types of excluded products are: Consumer products, explosives, and pesticides.
Every chemical manufacturer or importer must provide an SDS for any hazardous materials they sell, and OSHA requires that all workplaces in the United States keep an SDS for every hazardous chemical onsite.
Safety Data Sheets should be obtained for each hazardous chemical that is produced, imported, or used in the workplace. Some examples of products that you would need an SDS for would typically include paints, cleaners, solvents, sealants, lubricants, compressed gasses, fuels, etc.
The SDS includes information such as the properties of each chemical; the physical, health, and environmental health hazards; protective measures; and safety precautions for handling, storing, and transporting the chemical.
SDS's are not meant for consumers. An SDS reflects the hazards of working with the material in an occupational fashion. For example, an SDS for paint is not highly pertinent to someone who uses a can of paint once a year, but is extremely important to someone who uses that paint 40 hours a week.
Hand sanitizers are flammable and require Safety Data Sheets (SDS). It is important to make sure if your product is safe for human skin, and follow the related regulations when preparing, compounding and transporting.
(4) Thread, string, twine, rope, cord, and similar materials are exempt from the labeling requirements of section 2(p)(1) of the act (repeated in § 1500.3(b)(14)(i)) insofar as they apply to the products being considered hazardous because of being an “extremely flammable solid” or “flammable solid” as defined in Sec.
Consumer products are partially exempt from the requirements of the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). The Federal Hazardous Products Act and regulations state that suppliers do not have to apply WHMIS compliant labels or provide a safety data sheet (SDS) for these products.
Do you need an SDS for Windex?
If Windex is used to clean a window in the office just as it would at home, then likely you do not need to have the SDS or add it to your chemical inventory. However, if you're using Windex on your safety goggles to remove the smudges, you'll need a SDS and add it to the chemical inventory.
Answer: Yes. If those products on the shelves meet the definition of 'hazardous' found in the hazard communication law, 1910.1200 (d)-(d)(3)(ii).
Section 15: Regulatory Information (non-mandatory)
Section 15 includes any additional safety, health, and environmental regulations not indicated anywhere else on the SDS sheet.
Ideally, all ingredients should be listed under Section 3. However, there are caveats to not listing ingredients. If an ingredient is classified as a hazardous substance under the GHS and its content surpasses the cut-off value, it must be disclosed.
Employers will be required to make sure that all hazardous products (as defined by the Hazardous Products Regulations have an up-to-date SDS when it enters the workplace.
Food that is served in bulk containers at a retail establishment. The retail establishment must include the ingredients listing on a card or sign, if not on the bulk container itself. Ingredients that are added to a food for an effect in processing but are present in the finished product at insignificant levels.
A workplace label is not required if the worker who transferred the hazardous chemical will use up the chemical on the same day it was transferred. Non-hazardous chemicals do not require a workplace label.
Portable containers are used to transfer a chemical from one location to another to be used immediately. Portable containers cannot be used to store chemicals. Portable containers are not required to have a label.
The current exclusions under WHMIS are: Explosives as defined in the Explosives Act. Cosmetic, device, drug or food as defined in the Food and Drugs Act. Pest control products as defined in the Pest Control Products Act.
To determine if you are exempt because of size, you need to determine your company's peak employment during the last calendar year. If you had no more than 10 employees at any time in the last calendar year, your company qualifies for the partial exemption for size.
What does partly exempt mean?
Partial exemption means that you can sometimes offset this and reclaim VAT incurred in certain circumstances but not in others. The process is highly complicated and depends on how much input tax and output VAT is incurred over an accounting period.
Water does not require an SDS because it does not meet the OSHA definition of hazardous, but that hasn't stopped companies from issuing them for non-hazardous materials.
You may need an SDS for common household products such as Windex, Wite-Out, etc. Safe and Compliant.
SDS's are not meant for consumers. An SDS reflects the hazards of working with the material in an occupational fashion. For example, an SDS for paint is not highly pertinent to someone who uses a can of paint once a year, but is extremely important to someone who uses that paint 40 hours a week.
Section 14: Transportation Information (non-mandatory)
Section 14 provides guidance on classification information for shipping and transporting of hazardous chemical(s) by road, air, rail, or sea. Information in this section may include: UN Number (i.e., four-figure identification number of the substance).
Where an SDS is NOT Required: Businesses do not require a SDS when hazardous chemicals are in transit or if the business is a retailer and the hazardous chemical is a consumer product intended for household use. Furthermore, non-hazardous chemicals do not require an SDS.
These include: If the container size is impractical to house a label. If the chemicals are produced in a workplace but are not for sale. Products meant for immediate use.
According to Work Health and Safety Regulations, it is mandatory for manufacturer or importer of hazardous chemical, substance, mixture, or article to prepare and provide an SDS on the chemical in order to ensure workers are aware of the potential dangers in its use and exposure in the workplace.
The SDS is not only important to have on hand for safety reasons; it is also an OSHA requirement that you have the SDS on hand for every product that your cleaning company uses. These sheets must be available to your employees.
All employers with hazardous chemicals in their workplaces must have labels and safety data sheets for their exposed workers, and train them to handle the chemicals appropriately.
Which pictogram is not mandatory for SDS?
The pictograms OSHA has adopted improve worker safety and health, conform with the GHS, and are used worldwide. While the GHS uses a total of nine pictograms, OSHA will only enforce the use of eight. The environmental pictogram is not mandatory but may be used to provide additional information.
Information on the delayed or immediate effects after exposure to the product is not listed. Information on chronic effects is not disclosed. The Acute Toxicity Estimate (ATE) is not disclosed.
