Managing Hazardous Substances
Dangerous materials can be corrosive, flammable, explosive, spontaneously combustible, toxic, oxidising, or water-reactive. These goods must be identified in workplaces through different symbols. These substances cause harm to people can be solid, liquid or gas. Substances can cause harm in an immediate or long term effect.
An accident which involves dangerous goods could seriously damage any property or even the environment. Dizziness, nausea and itchiness are few of the immediate harm caused by hazard sunsatnces. Some hazards can also cause long term effect to the body like dermatitis or cancer. Some people are also susceptible than others.
Almost every day, we are using hazardous substances and dangerous goods. It may be antiseptic for a cut, the paints for the walls, or even a cleaning product for the bathroom. While they looked like harmless, but even these ordinary things can make you very sick if they are not handle properly. As part of the company’s responsibility to their workers they are obliged to provide safety in using these hazardous substances and dangerous goods. Training, information and supervision must be provided by the company or employer. First aid treatment must be conducted through training to the workers.
A material safety data sheet is providing detailed information about a hazardous substance or dangerous good. These information provided cannot eb found on labels. As a requirement, the manufacturers and suppliers of hazardous substances and dangerous goods should provide MSDS’s to their customers and employers. Workplaces must handle hazardous substances and dangerous goods well using the written instruction provided by the manufacturers and suppliers of these substances. These risk control and procedures must be closely monitored and followed as well.
Upon receiving a MSDS it must keep it in a register, and even keep a copy close to where the substance is being used to allow workers who may be exposed to refer to it easily. When you purchase containers of hazardous substances they must be labelled. It is highly recommended to conduct risk assessment to hazardous substances.
Safety data sheets are very important in helping you, or anyone you supply, to make the workplace safe. As a requirement by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, these safety data sheets are necessary in every workplace. These sheets are not an assessment. The sheet could greatly help you in assessing the risk of these hazardous substances. Boiling point and classification of these hazardous substances are few of the most important information you can get from the safety data sheet. Therefore, a company must provide MSDS in their workplace.