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SDS Authoring And SDS Management: Beware Of Silos

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SDS Authoring And SDS Management: Beware Of SilosMany companies today are in the process of evaluating and selecting Safety Data Sheet (SDS) authoring software. This is mainly due to regulatory pressures to re-write their SDSs, especially HazCom 2012 and the U.S. implementation of GHS. Many organizations believe that using commercial SDS authoring software is more effective than using a manual approach, or a homegrown system that can no longer keep up with the regulatory complexity brought by the EU REACH regulation and all the different national adaptations of GHS.

If you happen to be looking for SDS authoring software, be sure that you don’t neglect SDS management needs. Many organizations have reached out to us for free guidance regarding their SDS authoring software selection process, without taking into account their SDS management needs. We have urged them to also look at their SDS management needs, specifically: Management of SDSs from suppliers and management of SDSs of finished products. It is important to address all SDS needs simultaneously because of the connections between them, by performing two additional assessments in addition to evaluating SDS authoring software vendors.

First, assess the way you acquire and manage SDSs from suppliers. If you are seeking to automate your SDS authoring through software, think also about the way you acquire SDSs from your suppliers and how you manage them. Some vendors offer a service where they will acquire SDSs from your suppliers on your behalf. They can also enter SDSs in a system where you can access them online, perform searches and generate reports. Some vendors go one step further and offer a single platform to manage the SDSs of your raw materials and to author the SDSs of your finished products. This allows you to leverage information on raw materials to generate SDSs for your finished products that include those raw materials as ingredients.

Second, assess the way you manage and distribute the SDSs that you create. Inquire with the vendors that offer SDS authoring software whether they also offer SDS management software that includes the following capabilities: archiving previous versions of the same SDS and having a record of the versioning, automating the distribution of SDSs based on user actions or rules (major SDS update, time limit, new purchase from client, etc.), integration between the SDS management software and your corporate website to provide your customers online access to your SDSs. If you are already considering the purchase of an SDS authoring software, it is the perfect time to also look into the way you will manage and distribute the SDSs that you will create.

Even if it might not be the case now, you will be confronted with SDS management needs in the future, as you start creating many SDSs with your authoring software.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you are in the process of evaluating SDS authoring software. Our free guidance will help you shortlist SDS authoring software suppliers and determine how you can manage your supplier SDSs and finished product SDSs.
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Photo by Tweenk via Wikipedia


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