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labricoleuseA recent query about MSDS records from a colleague inspired this post--i figured, perhaps i should share my response with my readership! I know these posts aren't as fun to read as parasols and masks and hats, but i feel they are just as important a part of this blog. And you never know when some bit of safety info might just save your life, or your fingers from amputation, or that of a colleague.
Here's her questions:
When you are assembling or overhauling an MSDS file, you can organize it several different ways. The idea is that it is organized in the most intuitive way possible for looking something up. Mine is completely by alphabetical order by the name of the product. I have seen them organized in categories (glues, paints, solvents) and then alphabetically within each category, but I think that is more confusing. Sometimes you wind up having to look up an MSDS in a high-stress time-sensitive situation (like if a coworker has gotten a product in a cut or eye or something), so usability is of the utmost import. I highlight the name of the product on each sheet as well, so that it is easy to quick-reference, and if an MSDS is several pages, they are stapled together before they are put into the binder, so that i can flip through them easily.
Our MSDS collection is so extensive it actually takes up two binders (A-K, L-Z). I have been debating whether to put ours instead into a file of folders, but i think there are pros and cons to binders and file folders both. Up to you! We have one MSDS collection for the costume department, which is kept in the dry crafts room bookshelf. Scenic has a separate MSDS file of their own. If your facility is spread out, you can post signs in other costume areas that say "The MSDS for the costume facility is kept in the dye room," and that’s sufficient notice. I believe though if you are extremely spread out (like, the wardrobe area is off-site in another building, or if you have multiple workshops on different floors of a building) you would want to put a copy in each general physical location, by floor or whatever.
You do have to have an MSDS for every single product in your facility, so if you have the Wal Mart dryer sheets and Bounce dryer sheets and Snuggle dryer sheets, OSHA requires you to have the MSDS for each brand. This is why our MSDS file is so large. Our costume and scene shops have the biggest MSDS files our OSHA inspector has seen, according to him, but he also commended us on how well ours was put together (alphabetized, highlighted, prominently displayed in my dry room), so I guess we have done it correctly!
Good luck with it! It can be a tedious project, but IIRC our Safety Officer’s assistant got ours completely put together in a week or two, then once it’s done, maintenance is easy. Every time you get a new product, you file the MSDS. Every time you throw out the last of a product, you chuck the MSDS in the recycle, easy-peasy.
A good reference to have in any shop for questions like these is The Health and Safety Guide for Film, TV, and Theatre, by Monona Rossol. Ms. Rossol is head of the watchdog organization ACTS (Arts, Crafts, and Theatre Safety), which answers specific safety questions via their various hotline contacts.
Here's her questions:
I am in the process of updating our MSDS sheets so that our new craftsperson can be certified for her respirator. I am tracking down sheets for all the products that we use in the shop and putting them into a binder. My question is about how to organize them. Are there classifications that appear on the sheets that I could group them by? Or is it acceptable to have everything in one binder and alphabetized. Also these products are in about four different locations/rooms within our shop. Do I need to have a separate MSDS binder for all these locations, with only the relevant sheets inside them?
Also one last question, if, for example I have the sheet for Bounce, but what I actually have is the Wal Mart brand is that acceptable, or should I track down the one from Wal Mart.
When you are assembling or overhauling an MSDS file, you can organize it several different ways. The idea is that it is organized in the most intuitive way possible for looking something up. Mine is completely by alphabetical order by the name of the product. I have seen them organized in categories (glues, paints, solvents) and then alphabetically within each category, but I think that is more confusing. Sometimes you wind up having to look up an MSDS in a high-stress time-sensitive situation (like if a coworker has gotten a product in a cut or eye or something), so usability is of the utmost import. I highlight the name of the product on each sheet as well, so that it is easy to quick-reference, and if an MSDS is several pages, they are stapled together before they are put into the binder, so that i can flip through them easily.
Our MSDS collection is so extensive it actually takes up two binders (A-K, L-Z). I have been debating whether to put ours instead into a file of folders, but i think there are pros and cons to binders and file folders both. Up to you! We have one MSDS collection for the costume department, which is kept in the dry crafts room bookshelf. Scenic has a separate MSDS file of their own. If your facility is spread out, you can post signs in other costume areas that say "The MSDS for the costume facility is kept in the dye room," and that’s sufficient notice. I believe though if you are extremely spread out (like, the wardrobe area is off-site in another building, or if you have multiple workshops on different floors of a building) you would want to put a copy in each general physical location, by floor or whatever.
You do have to have an MSDS for every single product in your facility, so if you have the Wal Mart dryer sheets and Bounce dryer sheets and Snuggle dryer sheets, OSHA requires you to have the MSDS for each brand. This is why our MSDS file is so large. Our costume and scene shops have the biggest MSDS files our OSHA inspector has seen, according to him, but he also commended us on how well ours was put together (alphabetized, highlighted, prominently displayed in my dry room), so I guess we have done it correctly!
Good luck with it! It can be a tedious project, but IIRC our Safety Officer’s assistant got ours completely put together in a week or two, then once it’s done, maintenance is easy. Every time you get a new product, you file the MSDS. Every time you throw out the last of a product, you chuck the MSDS in the recycle, easy-peasy.
A good reference to have in any shop for questions like these is The Health and Safety Guide for Film, TV, and Theatre, by Monona Rossol. Ms. Rossol is head of the watchdog organization ACTS (Arts, Crafts, and Theatre Safety), which answers specific safety questions via their various hotline contacts.
