M.S.D.S. Sheets - What Does Readily Available Mean?

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees:  You often hear that you must have the material safety data sheets (M.S.D.S.) available at your site for every product you are using or there could be big trouble.  For clarification, I called OSHA and discussed this topic.  OSHA informed me that M.S.D.S. must be readily available within 4 hours of request from OSHA.  We discussed this further and I was advised that it is o.k. to have a library of our M.S.D.S. in our computer as long as they could be on site within 4 hours of a request.  However, there are times when it is a requirement to have the M.S.D.S. on site.  The M.S.D.S. are required to be on site when required by the general contractor.  Also, if we are using a product that is harmful to one's health or could cause death, then we would be required to have the M.S.D.S. on site.  In general, for our drywall board, taping mud, metal studs, latex paints, fiberglass acoustic tile, and other non-hazardous materials that we use, it is O.K. to not have the M.S.D.S. on site.  If you are using a product that you are unfamiliar with, a highly corrosive product, a product that can harm your organs through inhalation or ingestion or severely harm you in any way, and if you don't have the M.S.D.S. on site for those products, you should contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham and he will get the M.S.D.S. to you.  Should you have any questions regarding material safety data sheets, working with chemicals, our hazard communication program, etc., please e-mail our Safety Director, Peter Graham at pgraham@4id.com.  Also, we do supply M.S.D.S. sheets to the projects we work at a majority of time.  Where it can be difficult to manage are the shorter-term tenant space jobs.

Have a Safe Day!