How do You Find the SDS Safety Data Sheet?

The Ask a House Cleaner Show and Podcast with Angela Brown

How do you find the SDS or Safety Data Sheet? As house cleaners and maids we need it for workplace safety. The globally harmonized system of classification and labeling of chemicals mandates one. On every chemical product sold. (Including shampoo, deodorant and of course, cleaning solutions.)

How do you find the SDS or Safety Data Sheet? As house cleaners and maids we need it for workplace safety.

The globally harmonized system of classification and labeling of chemicals mandates one. On every chemical product sold. (Including shampoo, deodorant and of course, cleaning solutions.) Airbnb Hosts learn about them in OSHA training and homeowners are now going online to find them.

Listen: How do You Find the SDS Safety Data Sheet?

Watch: How do You Find the SDS Safety Data Sheet?

Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. You can find this and 400 other answered questions in this series on our YouTube channel.

Where do you go to find an MSDS?

MSDS stands for a material safety data sheet. And on June 1 of 2015, the entire world changed from material safety data sheets just to safety data sheets.

There’s what’s called the globally harmonized system. A system that is trying to generalize the way that chemicals are reported worldwide.

A 16-Step Process

There’s a 16-step process, which is now called a safety data sheet. And it’s required by law for all the different manufacturers.

If there’s a chemical in it, there is a safety data sheet for that product. All right, so where do you go to find it?

There are a couple of different places you can go. There are actually directories that sell nothing but safety data sheets. But that’s overkill for the average consumer.

You’re Required to Have Safety Data Sheets

But as a cleaning business, you’re required by law to have all the safety data sheets for every chemical that your company uses.

And so, you want to have a binder in your office where your employees can come in and they can look up the safety data sheets. That way they can answer questions for the employees.

Is this an environmental hazard? Is it safe, is it biodegradable? What happens if it spills? How do you clean it up properly?

What happens if you get it in your eyes, or if you inhale it, it covers all those different things. Is it combustible? Is this something that if you breathe the fumes, it’s going to make you sick? The SDS will cover that for you.

You Have to Understand What is Inside the Chemicals

Okay, so it’s super important that you understand what’s inside the chemicals that you’re using. You don’t want to find unwanted chemicals lurking around.

If you’re just an average consumer, you can use the internet to find the SDS. Just search up whatever chemical you are using and then S-D-S and it should pull up the most recent one.

And if not, you can type in what the year is, after the SDS. That should pull up the most current version of the safety data sheet.

Chemical Manufacturer Information on Safety Data Sheets

Now, on every SDS, there has to be the chemical manufacturers’ contact information. Some companies actually outsource it to another company that answers questions for that product.

So, it might be the chemical manufacturer, it might be a company that they’ve outsourced it to. But there’ll be a phone number on there with the information that you can call and get your questions answered.

Companies Have Sections on Their Websites for SDS

You can go to a company that has a whole line of products. And they have a whole section on their websites with the current safety data sheets.

And so right there you can just click on the safety data sheet, click on the product. There will be separate safety data sheets that specify the different chemicals that are in those different scents.

So even down to this scent of a perfumed version of a cleaning chemical, there will be a special safety data sheet just for that. So, make sure you have the correct one. And if you’re not sure, on the back of every single chemical, there will be a label with a phone number. It’s required by law.

You Can Call a Company for a Safety Data Sheet

You can call the company and say, “Hey, I’m looking for your current safety data sheet. Where do I find that information?”

And that person can direct you to that safety data sheet. Become familiar with the safety data sheets. You have to be careful because we live in an era right now where lots of people have allergies.

Use Safety Data Sheets to Prevent Problems

As you go into customer’s homes, they don’t want cleaning chemicals that are going to make them sick.

And we have lots of other things in the air like dust and pet hair and other things that trigger allergies. So, you don’t want to compound that by using chemicals that are too strong for the senses.

You Need Some Products for Heavy Cleans

And there are products that are great products designed for heavy-duty use. So, if you go in and it’s a deep clean, there’s a bunch of stuff that’s been there forever.