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Environmental & Risk Management / Material Safety Data Sheets

Overview

Historically, MSDSs were available as hard copy printouts in binders only at the location where they were used or stored. It was difficult to keep this information up-to-date as changes occurred, and looking up specific information about multiple materials could be difficult and time consuming.

The ARCHIBUS MSDS application provides a centralized, electronic repository for your MSDS data, providing greater accessibility and better information.

Safety managers can search for MSDSs by various criteria, such as GIS number, manufacturer, or location on site, so that they can easily look up key information about the materials. Employees, contractors, safety engineers, and emergency responders always have access to up-to-date information. The ARCHIBUS MSDS application addresses the regulatory requirements for the content of an MSDS, as well as the requirements for providing access to the MSDSs.

Workflow Process

The following describes the overall process for using the MSDS application to 1store and access your MSDSs.

  1. A business process owner enters basic information about the geographic and building locations.See Defining Background Data about your Facility,
  2. A safety officer, or other personnel familiar with MSDS management, enters information about the hazard classification system, chemicals used at your site, and storage containers. When completing an MSDS, you will choose from the list of values defined in this step. See Overview: Business Process Owner - MSDS.
  3. As you receive MSDSs from manufacturers, enter key information for them into the electronic system. You can also store the latest copy of the MSDS in the ARCHIBUS document management system, or provide a link to the PDF on the manufacturer's web site. See Define Material Safety Data Sheets.
  4. Assign the MSDSs for new chemicals to locations in the building using a floor plan drawing or by completing a form.
  5. If needed, safety officers can use ARCHIBUS to produce hard copies for binders or other forms of distribution. See Print MSDSs.
  6. Additionally, you will want to periodically survey your facility to be sure that all chemicals are entered into the system. For those chemicals found in the survey but not documented in the system, enter them and their locations into the system using steps 3 and 4 above.
  7. Periodically, manufacturers may update the MSDS and inform you of changes. Be sure to enter these updates into the system.

Use Cases

To provide a practical example of how the MSDS application could be used, several use cases are presented. Follow the links below to each of the use cases for a description of the process. Within each use case, you will find links to topics that describe the mechanics of using the forms and reports.

  1. Develop an Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals and MSDSs
  2. Accessing MSDSs
  3. Contractor Employers
  4. Emergency Response
  5. Hazardous Chemical Storage Reporting

Additional Information

Note that these help topics are not intended to educate you on the regulatory requirements for MSDS. Rather, the information contained here demonstrates how to effectively use the MSDS application in ARCHIBUS and, where appropriate, explains why you might perform a task. There are many online resources for learning about MSDS requirements. Here are some links where you can find additional information: