Manufacturing and Production

Safety Data Sheets, Labelling and GHS Classification

A safety data sheet is a legal document that travels with a product, is relied on by people who never spoke to the manufacturer, and is frequently copied from a supplier's sheet without anyone checking whether it describes the product in the drum. This course covers producing correct ones. Delegates work through the globally harmonised system: hazard classes, categories and the criteria that place a substance or mixture in each. Mixture classification is addressed in detail, including the calculation and bridging rules that apply when test data does not exist. Label elements follow: pictograms, signal words, hazard statements and precautionary statements, and the rules on what may appear alongside them. The sixteen sections of a safety data sheet are worked through with what belongs in each and the errors that recur. Transport classification and its relationship to supply classification are covered, since the two differ. Workplace labelling and decanted containers are addressed. The course closes on maintaining sheets as formulations change and on responding to a customer query.