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Safety data sheet error trap: How to ensure legal certainty

Safety data sheet error trap: How to ensure legal certainty

Anyone who places substances and mixtures on the market must provide their customers with up-to-date safety data sheets (SDS) in accordance with the REACH Regulation. The crux of the matter: one in three SDSs is not legally compliant. This is the result of checks carried out as part of the EU's REACH En-Force 11 (REF-11) project. The good news is that you can restore compliance at any time with an SDS check.

Attention change of law

Every change in legislation brings with it new SDS requirements. Due to the latest updates to Annex II of the REACH Regulation (EU Regulation 2020/878), which have been in force since January 2023, companies are obliged, among other things, to

provide certain information on substances with nanoforms in the SDS.
provide information in the SDS on substances and mixtures with endocrine disrupting properties.
adapt certain content in the SDS (mainly in sections 9 and 14) to the UN GHS (Rev. 6 and 7).

Where the main errors lie

In fact, the inspectors found the majority of errors in the sections relating to the above-mentioned amendments. For example, substances and mixtures with endocrine disrupting properties: Here, the required information was missing in every second SDS reviewed. Sections 1, 3 and 9 had an even higher error rate. Two out of three SDSs contained no information on nanoforms. The auditors discovered a striking number of deficiencies in section 8: For example, information on occupational exposure limits, emission protection measures and protective equipment was missing.

Your obligations as a distributor

As a manufacturer and/or importer of substances and mixtures, you are obliged under the REACH Regulation to keep SDSs up to date and provide them to your customers free of charge. The labels of industrial, commercial or consumer products must also provide transparent information about the product properties - especially about possible hazards and risks.

Every country has different requirements

Depending on the country in which the substance or mixture is placed on the market, the SDS must be provided in the respective official language in accordance with REACH Regulation Article 31 Paragraph 5. We are

We are familiar with the requirements of substance legislation worldwide and prepare SDSs in more than 50 languages.

We also ensure the completeness of your data and take over the complete data management for your supplier SDS as part of our ‘KFT Control & Care’ convenience package.

Who we are

We at KFT Chemieservice GmbH are one of Germany's leading chemical compliance service providers. We are celebrating our anniversary this year: for 30 years, our services have ensured that companies comply with all the requirements of chemicals legislation without exception. We have been part of the Infraserv Höchst Group for five years now.

How we can support you

Maintaining and updating SDSs
Creation of SDS according to REACH, Article 31, in all EU languages
Creating country-specific SDSs worldwide according to GHS in more than 50 languages
Researching missing data
Study management and monitoring with partner laboratory for new data
Advice on classifications or special content

Supplier SDS management - Control & Care convenience package

Requesting current SDSs from your suppliers
Checking supplier SDSs for plausibility and completeness with the involvement of your suppliers
Entering the supplier SDS into our document management system and ensuring permanent database access

Labelling

Creating templates for the content of labels
Creating proposals for monolingual or multilingual labels
Checking the legal compliance of your labels and label designs as well as those of your partners and suppliers