Ask The Expert: Must Employer Create SDS for Hazardous Products It Uses?

QUESTION

We’re not a chemical manufacturer but we do use toxic chemicals that we get from outside companies. Do we have to create an SDS for each of these products’

ANSWER

No

EXPLANATION

Under WHMIS, the duty to prepare an SDS for a hazardous product falls to the manufacturer and supplier who must then send the SDS to you when shipping the product. Your obligation as a downstream employer is to assemble all the SDSs into a binder, which can be supplemented by an electronic system, that’s readily accessible to all workers during work. Manufacturers and suppliers are also required to update and revise the SDS as new hazard information becomes available. Going forward, it’s your continuing responsibility to maintain an inventory of all the hazardous products you use, store and handle in the workplace and verify that each one of them has a complete and up-to-date SDS.