A safety data sheet (SDS) is the document a chemical’s manufacturer or importer prepares to describe the chemical’s hazards and how to handle it safely. Under OSHA’s rules, US employers must keep an SDS for every hazardous chemical in the workplace and make it readily accessible to workers in their work areas on every shift.
Hazard Communication, the OSHA standard behind SDSs, was the second most cited OSHA standard in fiscal year 2025, with 3,010 violations, according to Safety+Health magazine’s report of OSHA’s final figures. For employers, the SDS rules cover more than format. They determine where employers keep SDSs, who can access them during each shift, and when employers must replace outdated SDSs.
Key Takeaways
- Every SDS uses the same 16 sections in a fixed order, and OSHA enforces the content of sections 1 to 11 and 16.
- The SDS replaced the material safety data sheet (MSDS) under OSHA’s 2012 rule, and manufacturers and importers had to issue SDSs by June 1, 2015.
- Employers must keep an SDS for each hazardous chemical, readily accessible to workers during each shift, and electronic copies count only if they create no barriers to immediate access.
- An SDS has no expiry date, and the preparer must add significant new hazard information within three months of learning of it.
What is a Safety Data Sheet?
OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard defines an SDS as “written or printed material concerning a hazardous chemical that is prepared in accordance with paragraph (g)” of the standard.
Responsibility for the SDS starts with chemical manufacturers and importers. The standard says they “shall obtain or develop a safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical”, and distributors pass the SDS on to the employers they supply.
Employers use the SDS as the written source of hazard information for each chemical. Its hazard details go into workplace labels, hazard communication training, and chemical risk assessments.
Every SDS must be in English, although employers may also keep copies in other languages. It must also follow 16 numbered sections in a set order. That format keeps US SDSs consistent with the UN’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).
Where to Find Safety Data Sheets for a Product
The supplier is the first place to look, because OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard makes the supplier responsible for delivering the SDS. Manufacturers and importers must give distributors and employers an SDS “with their initial shipment, and with the first shipment after a safety data sheet is updated”, and must also provide one on request.
When an SDS is missing from the file, a supervisor can find it through one of these routes:
- the delivery paperwork or the supplier’s customer portal
- the manufacturer’s website, searched by the product name and code printed on the label
- a direct request to the supplier
- an online database that collects SDSs from many manufacturers
A free SDS search of more than 30 million SDSs lets a supervisor look up a product and download the PDF, with no account needed. Before relying on an SDS found this way, the supervisor should check that its product name, manufacturer, and revision date match the container.
A search finds a missing SDS, but it does not meet OSHA’s requirement that workers can reach each SDS during their shift. The University of Iowa’s environmental health and safety office tells its labs: “You may not use Google (or any search engine) as your lab’s means of SDS access.”
SDS vs MSDS: What Changed and is an MSDS Still Valid?
The SDS is the newer, standardized version of the material safety data sheet (MSDS). OSHA’s 2012 final rule aligned the Hazard Communication Standard with the GHS and renamed material safety data sheets “safety data sheets” (SDS).
Under the 2012 rule, every SDS has:
- a fixed layout, which OSHA describes as “a consistent user-friendly, 16-section format”
- hazards classified under the GHS criteria, with Section 2 carrying the same signal words, hazard statements, and pictograms that appear on labels
Manufacturers and importers had to comply with the new SDS and label provisions by June 1, 2015, and distributors by December 1, 2015. Employers had to update their hazard communication programs by June 1, 2016.
The workplace binder still contains an MSDS issued before those deadlines, and it does not follow the 16-section format that the standard now requires. The fix is to request the current SDS from the supplier and replace the MSDS.
The 16 Sections of an SDS and What Each One Covers
OSHA fixes both the headings and their order. Paragraph (g)(2) of the Hazard Communication Standard lists them, and Appendix D sets the minimum content under each one.
| Section | Heading | What it Covers |
| 1 | Identification | Product identifier, recommended uses and restrictions, supplier name, address and phone, emergency phone number |
| 2 | Hazard(s) identification | Hazard classification, signal word, hazard and precautionary statements, pictograms |
| 3 | Composition/information on ingredients | Chemical names and identifiers, and for mixtures the concentrations or ranges of hazardous ingredients |
| 4 | First-aid measures | First aid by route of exposure, main symptoms, need for immediate medical attention |
| 5 | Fire-fighting measures | Suitable and unsuitable extinguishing media, combustion hazards, firefighter protective equipment |
| 6 | Accidental release measures | Personal precautions, emergency procedures, containment and cleanup |
| 7 | Handling and storage | Safe handling precautions, storage conditions, incompatibilities |
| 8 | Exposure controls/personal protection | OSHA permissible exposure limits (PELs), ACGIH threshold limit values (TLVs), engineering controls, personal protective equipment |
| 9 | Physical and chemical properties | Appearance, odor, pH, flash point, boiling point, vapor pressure and similar properties |
| 10 | Stability and reactivity | Stability, hazardous reactions, conditions to avoid, incompatible materials, decomposition products |
| 11 | Toxicological information | Routes of exposure, symptoms, short- and long-term effects, toxicity measures, carcinogen listings |
| 12 | Ecological information | Ecotoxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation, mobility in soil |
| 13 | Disposal considerations | Disposal methods and contaminated packaging |
| 14 | Transport information | UN number, proper shipping name, hazard class, packing group |
| 15 | Regulatory information | Safety, health and environmental regulations specific to the product |
| 16 | Other information, including date of preparation or last revision | Date of preparation or last revision |
Sections 12 to 15 have a different status. OSHA “will not be enforcing information requirements in sections 12 through 15” because those areas are outside its jurisdiction, and Appendix D marks them non-mandatory. However, the note to paragraph (g)(2) requires SDS headings to appear in the correct order, consistent with the GHS.
Two more rules from Appendix D help when an SDS looks incomplete. The SDS must clearly state when no relevant information is available; leaving a field blank does not meet the requirement. Within each section, preparers may present the information in any order.
How to Read a Safety Data Sheet by Task?
Few readers need all 16 sections at once, so the task at hand decides where to start.
1. In a Spill, Fire, or Exposure
Start with Section 1 for the emergency phone number and Section 2 for the hazards. Section 4 gives first aid by route of exposure, Section 5 covers firefighting, and Section 6 covers containment and cleanup.
2. Before a Routine Task
Section 8 provides exposure limits, such as the OSHA PEL, along with the engineering controls and personal protective equipment the task requires, and Section 7 adds handling and storage conditions, and Section 10 lists the materials and conditions to keep away from the chemical.
3. When Choosing or Replacing a Product
Comparing Sections 2, 3, 8, and 11 across candidate products shows which one carries fewer hazard classes, fewer hazardous ingredients, and lower toxicity.
4. When Checking the SDS is Current
Section 16 carries the date of preparation or last revision. Compare that date with the latest version on the supplier’s website, and match the product name and code to the container label to confirm the SDS on file still matches the product in use.
SDS Access Requirements for Employers
Keeping a copy on file does not meet OSHA’s requirements on its own. Employers must keep SDSs in the workplace, and copies must be “readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area(s).”
Electronic access is allowed “as long as no barriers to immediate employee access in each workplace are created by such options”. A PDF folder on an office computer can create that barrier for warehouse or production staff who have no login, and a network or power outage can make a cloud library unreachable. The University of Iowa requires its labs to keep offline backups in case of outages.
Three further rules apply the requirement to particular situations:
- For employees who travel between workplaces during a shift, employers may keep SDSs at the primary workplace facility, provided employees can access the information immediately during an emergency.
- SDSs “may be kept in any form, including as operating procedures”, as long as the required information is there for each hazardous chemical.
- Designated representatives, OSHA, and NIOSH can ask to see the SDSs, which “shall also be made readily available, upon request”.
Moving the SDS collection into SDS management software that serves each site’s SDSs through a QR code poster or an offline mobile app, and updates them as suppliers issue new revisions, gives workers without a computer login the same access as office staff.
When an SDS Must Be Updated and How Long to Keep It
An SDS has no expiry date and no annual review requirement. When the manufacturer, importer, or employer preparing the SDS “becomes newly aware of any significant information regarding the hazards of a chemical”, that information “shall be added to the safety data sheet within three months”. The 2024 update to the Hazard Communication Standard revised what SDSs must contain, including Sections 2, 3, 9, and 11. OSHA extended the compliance dates in January 2026.
Under the extended dates, manufacturers, importers, and distributors had until May 19, 2026, to comply for substances, and have until November 19, 2027, for mixtures. Employers must, as necessary, update alternative workplace labels, hazard communication programs, and training by November 20, 2026, for substances and by May 19, 2028, for mixtures. You do not have to keep retired SDSs forever.
Under OSHA’s rule on employee exposure records, employers do not need to retain SDSs for a specific period if they keep a record of the substance’s identity (chemical name, if known), where it was used, and when it was used for at least 30 years. Employers can meet this requirement by archiving the retired SDS and noting where and when they used the chemical.
Final Thoughts
An SDS is the supplier’s 16-section document on a chemical’s hazards and the controls they call for. OSHA requires one for every hazardous chemical, kept where workers can reach it on each shift without barriers. An SDS changes when its hazard information changes, not on a calendar.
When you retire an SDS, you must keep a record of the chemical, where it was used, and when for 30 years. A useful next step is to pick one product from the shelf and check that its SDS is on file, matches the label, and a night-shift worker can open it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Do Safety Data Sheets Expire?
Answer: Safety data sheets do not expire, and OSHA sets no annual update requirement. The preparer must update an SDS within three months of learning about significant new hazard information.
Q2. Are All 16 Sections of an SDS Mandatory?
Answer: All 16 sections of an SDS must appear as headings, but OSHA enforces the content of sections 1 to 11 and 16 only. Sections 12 to 15 cover ecological, disposal, transport, and regulatory information that other agencies regulate.
Q3. Do Consumer Products Need a Safety Data Sheet at Work?
Answer: Consumer products need a safety data sheet at work unless the employer can show they are used for their intended purpose, with exposure no longer or more frequent than a consumer’s. A cleaning product used throughout a shift by cleaning staff can exceed consumer exposure, and in that case it needs an SDS.
Q4. Can Safety Data Sheets Be Kept Only in Digital Form?
Answer: Employers can keep SDSs only in digital form if employees can access them immediately without any barriers. Workers without a computer login need another way to access them, and network or power outages require a backup, such as offline copies on a mobile device or printed copies.
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