An MSDS or Material Safety Data Sheet is an important document designed to follow all chemicals or biological liquids whether harmful or not. The MSDS shows all of the harmful effects of the products including the fire hazards and spill management.
EXPOSURE CONTROL/PERSONAL PROTECTION
Most importantly the MSDS tells you what PPE or personal protective equipment to use when handling the chemical. The fumes from certain chemicals are very dangerous to your lungs and many are carcinogenic. Filters for breathing masks or respirators are different for different types of chemicals the MSDS points out the exact filter to use. Not using the correct filter can cause you to lose your health or even your life. The MSDS also tells you what type of glove to wear for handling the chemicals.
REQUIRED MSDS TRAINING
Companies today should have MSDS classes for their staff on a regular basis and as a reminder to use the MSDS. Teaching the employees to first review the MSDS before handling chemicals may save their lives and the company from medical lawsuits. Each employee should know the location of the MSDS for each chemical on the business property. The MSDS book with all of the MSDS’s of the chemicals used should be placed in a marked location of a public place on the facility.
PROPER MANAGEMENT
Prior to accepting the use of chemicals the Health, Safety and Environment Manager (HSE) should investigate the chemical by first reviewing the MSDS. A clear understanding of the MSDS will help educate the staff on handling the new chemical. In some rare cases where the ingredients of the chemicals are proprietary information, the MSDS may not show all of the proper information. Researching the chemicals online will help see if there are any adverse effects of the chemicals not mentioned on the MSDS.
Chemicals have killed many people in the past from improper handling. Rated as the top cause of Cancer is the exposure of chemicals or carcinogens from the chemicals. Exposure to the dispersant Corexit caused all of the ill-informed handlers during the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 to die from Cancer. Had proper PPE been worn those handlers would be alive today. The lack of the MSDS class before handling the toxic chemical would have saved their lives. The same has happened with the use of the same chemical in the BP spill in the recent years. The handlers are now suffering and dying. This has caused large medical lawsuits for both companies.
As an employee, it is your right to be able to ask for the MSDS and for it to be readily accessible for your use. The MSDS is the difference between life and death. Knowing the chemicals and health effects that you are exposed to is important. Know what is in it before you breathe it or put your hands into it.
About The Author: Green Life Solutions is a privately owned Bahamian company. Our group of directors is deeply concerned with environmental conditions in the Caribbean. We value and seek a better future for ourselves and our children through sustainable environmental practices. With industrial waste streams and illegal dumping continuing to threaten our food and water sources and the health of our habitat, now more than ever is the time to exercise sustainable “green” practices that will help to mitigate any adverse effects opposed to the way of life which we have come to know. ” Green Life Solutions is your green living solutions provider, we have the natural, organic and biological solutions to your everyday commercial and residential problems.
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