About the safety data sheet authoring softwares

MSDS-Europe – Compass to Chemical Safety – Safety Data Sheet authoring software

 

Based on our nearly two decades of professional experience in the field of chemical safety, most foreign-language safety data sheets we have worked with were prepared using software, so we have had the opportunity to study such safety data sheets thoroughly.

Based on this experience, our company has never used Safety Data Sheet authoring software and has never recommended its use to our partners.

 

How Safety Data Sheet authoring software works and what it offers

Safety Data Sheet translation software — similarly to other translation software tools — prepares a foreign-language safety data sheet based on matching sentences available in its translation memory.

Its operation is based on “memories” available as purchasable language modules, which contain translations of sentences commonly found in safety data sheets.

The “source-language” sentence is replaced by the appropriate “target-language” sentence if the software finds a full match.

Software tools used for translating Safety Data Sheets usually offer additional features as well, such as:

  • Classifying components based on the CAS number and existing hazardous substance lists (which are often not fully up to date in the software).
  • Assigning occupational exposure limit values to substances.
  • Using pictograms (not CLP hazard pictograms) to highlight required protective equipment.
  • Determining the hazard classes and the H-statements and P-statements of a given mixture (based on the components and the concentration limits specified in the legislation).
  • Providing certain registry/database module functions.

 

Advantages of Safety Data Sheet authoring software

  • It can handle a large number of safety data sheets.
  • It can translate into multiple languages (provided that the relevant language modules have been purchased).
  • It is fast.
  • It can be cost-effective for large volumes (if we ignore the potential risks arising from professional deficiencies).
  • It may include registry and organisational functions.

 

Disadvantages of Safety Data Sheet authoring software

Professional deficiencies

  • If any errors occur during the hazard classification of the product, the user of the software bears the consequences.
  • Professional deficiencies in the “original” safety data sheet are also transferred to the translated safety data sheet without correction.
  • It may contain untranslated parts (the software cannot process sentences that do not fully match the sentences in its memory).
  • It may contain incorrectly translated sentences, phrases, or substance names, and it includes only a limited number of stored sentences, which significantly limits its practical usefulness.
  • It does not provide missing data (e.g. EC numbers, exposure limit values, etc.).
  • It typically operates only on the basis of general EU rules, ignoring minor or major deviations in the national legislation of the destination country.

 

Other, non-professional disadvantages

  • It is not a one-time expense. Purchasing various language modules and updates may result in additional costs.
  • The software must also be operated, so there are human-resource-related costs as well.
  • Its use is cost-effective only above a certain number of safety data sheets.
  • The user receives software support only; there is no one they can rely on for other chemical safety questions.
  • If an authority or a business partner raises an objection, the user may not be able to properly correct the safety data sheet without expert support.

 

Even when such software is used, the underlying data must still be verified against authoritative information sources and databases for safety data sheets; otherwise, errors in the built-in database will be automatically propagated into every new SDS.

 

Offered services

 

Quick questions and answers

Is it faster to create an SDS with software than with a professional?

Yes, but the software may copy technical errors without correction, so in the long run it can result in higher costs.

Who is liable for an incorrect hazard classification when using software?

Legal responsibility rests with the company using the software, not with the software provider.

When can SDS authoring software still be cost-effective?

Typically only for a very large SDS portfolio and when in-house chemical safety expertise is also available.

 

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