Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
The City of Ithaca wants all of our employees to be familiar with the Hazard Communication Standard regarding Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and container labeling.

Under OSHA's Right-To-Know regulation, each employee has the right to know what chemicals they may come in contact while in the performance of your job, how to best handle the chemical, first aid measures, what to do if spilled, it's reaction to other chemicals, fire fighting measures, personal exposure levels, and it's stability qualities.

Your Rights
The City is required to make available to each employee MSDS's on each hazardous chemical they may encounter while in the performance of their job. The employee may review this information at anytime, request interpretation of the information. and if further technical information MSDS for every hazardous chemical or substance for employee review at any time. Make sure you know where the MSDS's are kept in your area.

What information is provided on an MSDS?
[ Sample MSDS]

- Company Information
- Hazardous Ingredients
- Physical Data
- Fire and Explosion Hazard Data
- Health Hazard Data
- Reactivity (Instability Data)
- Special Protection Information
- Special Precautions

…If you have any question about the use of or exposure to a chemical or substance in the workplace: CHECK THE MSDS
…The MSDS will tell you how to safely use and store a product.

OSHA Requirements
- Employers must maintain an accurate MSDS for each chemical used in the workplace.
- When a new product is introduced into the workplace or new information becomes available regarding the product, that information must be shared with those employees affected.
- Employers must have an MSDS from each manufacturer whose chemicals are used in the workplace
- A MSDS should accompany or precede a products shipment.
- If the supplier fails to provide an MSDS on a shipment labeled as “hazardous”, the employer request one as soon as possible.
- If the MSDS is incomplete or unclear, the employer shallt contact the supplier or manufacturer to obtain the missing information.

Keep yourself and your family of fellow employees safe: know about MSDS.

Labeling
The need for adequate labeling extends far beyond the immediate requirements of the individual user, since the individual user may not be present in case of fire or explosion when containers are broken or spilled. The individual user may not be around years later when the containers have deteriorated or otherwise lost their value. Therefore, do not use wax pencil markings, abbreviations, formulas only, code names, or numbers. All labeling will be in conformance with New York Right-to-Know legislation and the following:

- The immediate supervisor/faculty member for each work area or unit will be responsible for ensuring that all containers received or shipped are properly labeled.
- Labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals may not be removed or defaced unless the container is immediately marked with all of the required information.
- The labels on all containers will include:

      * The identity of the hazardous chemical(s); and

      * Appropriate hazard warnings or combination of words, pictures, and symbols that provide at least general information regarding the hazards of the chemicals, and which, in conjunction with the other information immediately available to employees under the hazard communication program, will provide employees with the specific information regarding the physical and health hazards.

The hazard warnings and information must also be in accordance with the labeling requirements of any substance-specific standards applicable to the chemical.

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