Employees of manufacturing facilities that work with hazardous chemicals or substances are constantly under threat of their own physical safety. Common hazardous substances are broadly classified by the UN Model Regulation for the Transportation of Dangerous Goods under the categories of:
Explosives
Flammable gases
Oxidizing gases
Gases under pressure
Flammable liquids
Flammable solids
Self-reactive or self-heating substances and mixtures
Pyrophoric liquids or solids
Oxidizing liquids or solids
Organic peroxides
Corrosive metals
Substances or mixtures, which emit flammable gases on contact with water
It is the responsibility of manufacturers, distributors and employers to identify the substances and chemicals that fall under these classifications and establish a stringent
chemical management system that is integrated with workplace safety protocols.
Today, there are global bodies that focus on enforcing hazard communication regulations on such enterprises through effective implementation of MSDS solutions, chemical management and employee training. A typical
MSDS management system offers enterprises information pertaining to the following factors:
The chemical and universal names of all the substances
Physical characteristics of hazardous substances
Potential physical or health hazards that can take place, such as fires or reactions
Contact details of manufacturers, importers and other parties responsible for developing and distributing safety information and information on:
oRelevant safety and emergency protocols to be followed
oAppropriate protective attire and other safety handling instructions
oEmergency and first aid
Furthermore, enterprises are obligated to optimize the information gathered on an
MSDS solution to train their workforce in protecting themselves. They must learn monitoring methodologies to be implemented to detect the presence of or release of hazardous substances in the work environment. The workforce also needs to be trained on how to access and interpret information present on the MSDS management system.
In addition to efficient MSDS management to implement safety measures, units are expected to employ rigorous chemical management systems which primarily consist of accurate labelling of every container carrying hazardous chemicals that leaves the workplace. The details on these labels are similar to a brief account of the data found on MSDS sheets.
Even though chemical and MSDS management may seem like a time-consuming and challenging endeavour for most enterprises, it is their moral responsibility to invest in a solution that helps them build a hazard-free environment for their workforce.
