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Section 7: Handling and Storage
Section 7 will contain information and advice aimed at everyone in the workplace; employees, occupational health and safety officers and employers.
This advice should be matched against the intended uses of the products written in Section 1.2, where the product has been through a chemical safety assessment, the chemical safety report and the exposure scenarios on an extended safety data sheet.
If the information is not consistent you should contact your supplier.
7.1. Precautions for Safe Handling
This information should detail the general handling precautions and best practices you should follow.
This information will allow you to:
Prevent overexposure when using the product, including ventilation requirements.
Prevent fires.
Prevent an accidental release into the environment.
Minimise contact time through good hygiene practices.
7.2. Conditions for Safe Storage, Including any Incompatibilities
Here you will find the suppliers recommended storage conditions. Storing chemical products can be dangerous if the proper precautions aren't taken; containers often corrode, lids may not be replaced properly, overheating can cause fire or explosions and storing incompatible products close to one another can cause hazardous reactions.
The information provided in this subsection will allow you to:
Ensure no containers are damaged during storage.
Avoid the build-up of flammable or explosive atmospheres in the storage areas.
Ensure there are no incompatible chemicals stored together, where they may come into contact with each other.
Avoid the decomposition, evaporation or volatilisation of stored containers of the product.
Ensure your storage containers and transfer equipment are suitable.
7.3. Specific End-Use(s)
Often, specific uses are assigned to chemical products and they will be listed in Section 1.2, however, here is where you will find the full details of the specific end-use(s).
This information should be consistent with the other, as well as chemical safety assessment or the exposure scenarios contained in an extended safety data sheet.
Please note: The information provided in Section 7 is closely linked and should be read in conjunction with Sections 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14.
Confused by the many pieces of information provided in those safety data sheets? Join the International Association for Chemical Safety's completely free health and safety academy now and take the Safety Data Sheet Awareness Certification™.
This article was originally published by the team over at Sevron Ltd and has been shared here with full permissions.