What is an SDS?
The generic explanation is that an SDS is an MSDS.
In other words, a safety data sheet and a material safety data sheet are the same thing — documents that accompany hazardous chemicals and substances and outline the dangers, composition, safe handling, and disposal of said chemicals and substances.
That said, an SDS also refers to a safety data sheet that is constructed and formatted to conform to the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), which mandates SDS’s have 16 standardized sections arranged in a strict order. With adoption of GHS happening around the world, this definition of SDS is what most people will be implying when talking about SDS.
The transition from old MSDS formats to the new GHS styled SDS is a big part of GHS adoption and there are three major challenges organizations that traffic in SDSs must face: SDS authoring, SDS management and SDS training. Download our GHS Adoption Timeline Checklist for a
roadmap to compliance.