Using an Online MSDS Hosting Service?
Here are 5 questions to see if you're getting what you pay for!
If you are paying someone to host your MSDSs you should know if they are doing a good job. Here are 5 questions you can ask to see if they are:
- What is the date of the oldest (M)SDS in your collection?
- How many duplicate (M)SDSs do you have?
- How many (M)SDSs are more than 7 years old?
- How many sheets less than 7 years old are in the old MSDS format?
- Can you answer the above questions in under 5 minutes?
Here are the answers for a client we recently onboarded. For the previous 5 years they had been using a large multi-national provider. For the 5 years prior to that they had been using a different large, multi-national provider.
What is the date of your oldest sheet? – November 12, 1987
For a sheet to be that old 3 things have to happen – the supplier has never updated the sheet; you have not fully used the contents of the bottle; the shelf life of the product is at least 35 years.
Is a sheet that was created when the Berlin Wall was still standing required?
How many duplicate sheets do you have? – 10%
These are the easiest sheets to eliminate. You don’t need 2 copies or versions for the same product.
How many sheets are more than 7 years old? – 40%
We've reviewed all the sheets greater than 7 years old:
- 60% - newer version available
- 10% - the existing sheet was still the most current
- 30% - product is no longer available
Said differently, 90% of these sheets needed work to assess, that you were paying the previous hosting company to do. But it didn't get done.
How many sheets less than 7 years old are MSDSs? – 5%
These sheets became obsolete in 2018. They should have been updated to SDSs.
Can you answer the above questions in under 5 minutes? – Yes
Transparency of information is critical to good health and safety. If you can’t answer these simple questions right away what else are you missing? And are you getting what you are paying for?
Would you be happy getting 50% of what you paid for?
Everyone is trying to reduce costs by asking SDS management providers to reduce their costs per sheet. You should be asking them to help you reduce the number of sheets. For this client 25% of the sheets they were paying for were not required. And 25% of the sheets required updating.
Contact us if you would like online, transparent SDS management and chemical safety software.