Creating and Editing

1A. How often am I required to revise the SDS?

• Per 1910.1200 g 5 , "The chemical manufacturer, importer or employer preparing the safety data sheet shall ensure that the information provided accurately reflects the scientific evidence used in making the hazard classification. If the chemical manufacturer, importer or employer preparing the safety data sheet becomes newly aware of any significant information regarding the hazards of a chemical, or ways to protect against the hazards, this new information shall be added to the safety data sheet within three months. If the chemical is not currently being produced or imported, the chemical manufacturer or importer shall add the information to the safety data sheet before the chemical is introduced into the workplace again. "

1B. How often am I required to revise the label?

• Per 1910.1200 f 11 , "Chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors, or employers who become newly aware of any significant information regarding the hazards of a chemical shall revise the labels for the chemical within six months of becoming aware of the new information, and shall ensure that labels on containers of hazardous chemicals shipped after that time contain the new information. If the chemical is not currently produced or imported, the chemical manufacturer, importer, distributor, or employer shall add the information to the label before the chemical is shipped or introduced into the workplace again."

1C. How do I save an SDS so it can be edited with Word?

• From any tab in SDS section of the program, click on "SDS" button on the bottom of the window under Build. This will take you to the "Build Report" tab. Click on "Build SDS (English)" button . This will present formatting dialogue button to let you select formatting options. To export the SDS, select File /Save as and save it on your desktop as a Word document or print it as a PDF

2. How do I edit text which I paste into a text box (e.g., Fire Fighting or First Aid)?

• Once text is pasted into the text box, you can edit it within the box; or
• You can use the Zoom feature by clicking on the little box icon to the upper right of the text box and select text box Zoom English. A window will appear and just click into the new window and edit the text here.

3. How do I add a new line in a text box?

• Click where you want a new line started and then press Enter key. Note: press the normal Enter key, not the keypad Enter key (often to the right with the numbers).
  • The Enter key will start the next text one line below at the left edge of the box.
  • Note: Since this is not a word processor, there is no tab key.

4. How do I add remove extra spaces between words in a text box?

• In some cases it is easier to control formatting by using the Zoom feature discussed above.

5. In Section 11 and 12 am I required to list the data in a table?

• No. The tool that we are using to create our product has a basic text editor which currently does not accommodate tables. It is possible that in the future we will be able to add the feature, but for now many of our users are listing the data in a format like below. Basically, you want to add the toxicity information to the Toxicity table of the component and then press the Paste [t]oxicity items button to select the rows to paste in the text box.

6. Now that I have completed the information in the SDS tabs, how do I actually create the SDS?

• Click into the Build Report tab and press the Generate SDS text (EN) button.
• Note: remember to press the [S]ave button on the bottom of the window to save your changes.

7. How do I get my company's specific information (such as name, location, etc) to auto-fill for each new SDS that I create?

• Enter the data in File / Preferences and then press the Save button.

8. How do I insert my company logo into the SDS?

• Drop or paste your logo graphic into the Logo box found in File / Preferences and then press the Save button. See above image
• Your logo will appear at the top of the SDS once your build it
• Note: the logo should be in an acceptable graphic format (e.g., .jpg, .gif, .bmp) and in the preferred size you wish it to appear in the SDS (typically 100-200 pixels). See graphic below which illustrates the details of a graphic if you click on its properties.

9. How do I add and edit the SDS version, revision, issue and print date on the bottom of the SDS?

• In the 16 Other tab this information is on the bottom of the window. To update the information in the SDS, edit it here and re-generate the SDS.

10. How does the spell checker work?

• Our product uses "hunspell", which is an open-source dictionary product that is fairly widely used. The English dictionary included with SDScribe is a standard one; it includes some chemical names as a matter of course, but is not a specific dictionary of chemicals.
• In SDScribe 2016:
  • There is an option to turn the Autospell on or off for a selected text area. Click on the box in the upper right of the text area.
  • There is also the option to select several different language dictionaries. Click on the box in the upper right of the text area and then select Zoom English and then click on the Spel[] button.

11. How do I add and edit the SDS version, revision, issue and print date on the bottom of the SDS?

• In the 16 Other tab this information is on the bottom of the window. To update the information in the SDS, edit it here and re-generate the SDS.

12. What is the meaning of the action item bar on the bottom of the SDS window?

• It's just an indication of the number of things that have yet to be completed on the SDS...sort of a progress indicator. Some of the entries also reflect inconsistencies or potential errors. Clicking on an entry takes the user to the field, on the relevant page.
• Validation items (gray, scrolling list at bottom left, all tabs) --
  • This scrolling list displays selected items/fields that have not yet been completed. It can also display certain types of inconsistencies. When the [Tr] button is depressed, so that the non-English language fields are being displayed, the validation items list will indicate when information is missing from non-English language fields, rather than from their English-language counterparts.
  • No SDS is likely to have information entered into all fields, and some of the available fields may be more relevant to certain types of SDS formats than to others. However, the scrolling list and the associated green thermometer give you some idea of how far along you are, in assembling the information for the SDS.
  • You can click on an individual item in the scrolling list, and the program should take you to the tab (section) where the item/field is located, and (if possible) place the cursor inside the field.
  • To view the validation items list in a larger window, click on the adjacent "zoom" box.

13. How do I omit the sub-section numbers on the SDS?

• When you are in the "Build Report" tab, you can select "Don't print subsection numbers" to omit these. See below.
• Note: To conform with ECHA “The safety data sheet shall include the following 16 headings in accordance with Article 31(6) and in addition the subheadings also listed except Section 3, where only Subsection 3.1 or 3.2 need to be included as appropriate:”