Safety Data Sheets (SDSs): informing customers about product use
What does exactly a safety data sheet contain?
In addition to information on the properties of the product, it provides recommendations for storage, use, handling, disposal or destruction as well as the measures to be taken in the event of an accident.
The SDS also contains information about the transportation of the product (hazard level, packaging groups) which is also included in the various labels. Information related to national or international regulations is also provided.
Customers are systematically provided with the SDS as from the first order and then for each significant update. The SDS must be updated and communicated again whenever there are new data related to the product’s hazards or a situation in which risk management measures may be impacted. The SDS is generally provided in the language of the country where the product is manufactured, used and stored.
They are prepared in some forty languages based on a global database comprising the composition of every product and its toxicological, ecotoxicological and physicochemical data, thereby ensuring consistent information in every market. Arkema issues SDSs in accordance with regulatory requirements and posts them on the Group website or the online QuickFDS platform.
Access to the SDS by legal entities and by country
As part of the product stewardship process, Arkema exceeds regulatory obligations by issuing SDSs even for products that are not classified as hazardous and by providing users with an emergency hotline available 24/7.
In Europe, the Group’s organization and IT infrastructure have made it possible to issue extended “SDSs”, the latest REACH compliant format, which improve risk management by including exposure scenarios for each identified use.