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SPRING 2014

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Distributor's Link Magazine Spring Issue 2014

46 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

46 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Jim Truesdell James Truesdell is president of Brauer Supply Company, a distributor of specialty fasteners, insulation, air filtration, and air conditioning with headquarters in St. Louis. Mr. Truesdell is adjunct professor at Saint Louis University and Webster University. An attorney and frequently published writer, he is the author of “Total Quality Management: Reports From the Front Lines”. SDS INFO SHEETS CONFORM TO GLOBAL HAZMAT RULES Once upon a time the phrase “SDS” evoked images of a late ‘60’s leftist group (Students for a Democratic Society) which gained notoriety for being at the heart of anti-Viet Nam War protests and which raised some people’s fears of an anarchist revolution. Today that acronym has a new meaning. “Safety Data Sheets” (SDS) are replacing the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) which have been the centerpiece of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Hazardous Materials Communication Standard. These informational sheets have been around for many years. Many businesses have loose leaf binders of the sheets which provide information about the chemical composition and potential risks involved with handling certain products used in industrial, institutional and other commercial applications. Sellers and users of hazardous chemicals have kept extensive files of these papers on hand spelling out emergency first-aid and other data which need to be on hand in the event a spill or unintentional contact with one of these chemicals triggers a reaction in an employee or user. It has been a problem that the MSDS have varied in format and style of presentation. Thus, in an emergency, time could be lost as the people involved struggle to interpret the information in its uniquely presented form. Now, as a result of our increasingly globalized economy, international standards have been adopted to bring uniformity to product safety information. The United Nations has developed an internationally agreed upon system called the “Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals” (GHS) with the intent that it will replace the hodgepodge of hazard communications currently in place around the globe (and sometimes even within the same countries). In the United States OSHA has chosen to conform to this which means that American businesses must get in step with the new regulations. Manufacturers, in particular, are being required to reformat their data sheets into a uniform sixteen point design that places the critical information in the same place and order for all products. Distributors and product users will have the responsibility of gathering these new replacement sheets to update their own information books maintained at key locations within their companies where employees may come into contact with chemicals or customers may request the information. Label requirements are also changing. Pictograms must be included along with single word “Warning” or “Danger” statements. A series of deadlines have been set, the first of which has already passed. On December 1, 2013 employers were to have trained their relevant employees on the new SDS format and label requirements. By June 1, 2015 all modified provisions of the final OSHA Rule must be complied with. This is causing manufacturers to promptly address revising their data sheets. Distributors and other sellers can ship product labels marked under the old system until December 1, 2015, so attention will have to be paid to existing inventories. please turn to page 128

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