Safety Data Sheet

SDS stands for safety data sheet. It replaced the older material safety data sheet (MSDS) when Australia moved to the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) under the model WHS laws.

The manufacturer or importer of a hazardous chemical must prepare the SDS, and review it at least every 5 years. Suppliers must provide it when they first supply the chemical to a workplace, and the business using the chemical must obtain the current version and keep it where workers can get to it.

On a construction site, common products with an SDS include concrete additives, form oil, sealants, adhesives, solvents, paints, fuels, LPG and acetylene, cleaning chemicals and some cement products.

Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice for preparing safety data sheets sets out 16 standard headings, so every SDS reads in the same order. The sections people use most on site are:

• Identification. Product name, supplier details and an Australian emergency phone number.

• Hazard identification. The GHS classification, pictograms, signal word and hazard statements.

• First aid measures. What to do for skin or eye contact, inhalation or swallowing.

• Firefighting and accidental release. Suitable extinguishers and how to contain a spill.

• Handling and storage. Ventilation, incompatible materials and storage conditions.

• Exposure controls and PPE. Exposure standards, plus the gloves, eyewear or respiratory protection needed.

The remaining headings cover composition, physical and chemical properties, stability, toxicology, ecology, disposal, transport, regulatory information and other details such as the date of last revision.

A PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) that uses, handles or stores a hazardous chemical must obtain the current SDS and make sure it is readily accessible to workers and to emergency services. It must also keep a register of hazardous chemicals, which lists the chemicals on site with their SDS.

The SDS should feed straight into the risk assessment, the SWMS (Safe Work Method Statement) for any high risk work involving the chemical, and the induction for workers who use it. Bigger quantities of some chemicals trigger further duties, such as a manifest and placarding.

In Victoria the same principles apply under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 and the Dangerous Goods legislation, but the regulation numbers and some thresholds differ.

• Out-of-date sheets. An SDS older than 5 years, or from a previous formulation, may not match the product on site.

• Wrong supplier's SDS. Two products with similar names can have very different hazards. Match the SDS to the product and supplier on the label.

• Filed, not used. An SDS sitting in a folder in the site office does nothing if the controls in it aren't in the SWMS.

• No register. Many sites have a stack of SDSs but no hazardous chemicals register linking them to what is actually stored.