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Looney Tunes, “Of Mice and Men,” and Safety Data Sheets

By February 20, 2015OSHA HazCom

Which way do I go, George?

John Steinbeck’s novella “Of Mice and Men” is often a required reading for many school children. Though published in 1937 about a story of migrant workers in the Great Depression, it has many themes that are still powerful today. What many don’t know is that one of Steinbeck’s characters from this story is parodied in a classic Looney Tunes cartoon.

Of Fox and Hounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV1LOFuddes&w=450

In this cartoon, Willoughby the dog is fooled by George the fox. Willoughby is voiced by Tex Avery, while George’s voice is done by Mel Blanc.

Now what does this have to do with Safety Data Sheets or SDS? Often when tasked with writing a SDS one can feel like poor Willoughby. All of the information is available, but which way do you go. Which way do you go?

ICC Compliance Center can help and it won’t be in the way of George in the cartoon. We offer five different SDS Services.

But how do I choose which is right for me?

  1. SDS Creation: The process is simple. Send us a basic product information sheet, the raw materials SDS documents, and the countries involved and we can write an SDS for you that meets the requirements of OSHA HazCom 2012, WHMIS, European REACH, or European CLP. We even offer to sign a non-disclosure agreement to keep your product information private.
  2. SDS Reformats and Revisions: Most companies already have SDS documents in place for their products. Difficulties arise when the regulations change or the company begins to sell the product in another country which often has different regulations. Revising an SDS for compliance from one regulation to another can be tricky – especially if you are unfamiliar with a regulation. ICC Compliance Center offers the option of taking your existing SDS and completing a reformat/revision of it to meet the new regulations. We only need the same information as you would provide for an SDS creation.
  3. SDS Updates: Once the SDS is written and released, a company can’t forget about it. It should be reviewed periodically to see if the products formulation has changed or if a supplier’s data is different. Some countries even have regulations requiring a review or update occur every so many years. We can do those updates for documents written under OSHA, WHMIS, European REACH and/or European CLP. All we need is your current SDS.
  4. SDS Reviews: Is the SDS ready for release throughout the company? Are all of the hazards, regulatory parts, appropriate phrases, etc. correct? Since a SDS plays such a large role in the safety of workers, wouldn’t it be nice if someone could check it? ICC Compliance Center can do that and even identify areas of improvement.
  5. SDS Translations: All regulations require the language on the SDS to be the local language. If a company does business anywhere else in the world then your SDS is going to need translating. ICC Compliance Center offers over 30 languages into which we can translate an SDS. We even do on a per product basis. This service is often combined with our SDS Reformat and Revision service.

Our Regulatory staff has over 190 years of combined experience in the hazard communications world. Our experience is available and ready to help with all of your Safety Data Sheet needs. We can help you figure out which way to go.

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