3.3 Safety Data Sheets
Key Takeaways
OSHA replaced the Material Safety Data Sheet with the Safety Data Sheet. A current sheet has 16 sections in a fixed order, and Section 4 is first aid.
The employer must have a Safety Data Sheet for each hazardous chemical and make it available to workers during the shift. A locked cabinet only the owner can open, or a product advertisement, does not meet that duty.
For a monomer splash in the eye, use the first-aid section of that product's SDS and the eyewash in the salon kit. Many sheets say to flush for at least 15 minutes. Follow the sheet in front of you. Chapter 7 does not set a flush time.
Dispose of leftover monomer and acetone-soaked pads by the SDS disposal section and local hazardous-waste rules. Do not pour them down the pedicure basin. Chapter 7 does not publish a nail-salon-only dump rule.
3.3 Safety Data Sheets
The label is the short warning on the bottle. The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is the longer document for that same chemical: identity, hazards, first aid, fire response, storage, protective equipment, and disposal. The exam outline still says MSDS/SDS because older books used the earlier name. OSHA replaced the Material Safety Data Sheet with the Safety Data Sheet. Use the current sheet for the bottle on today's table. A sheet for a product the salon no longer buys does not describe this one.
Sixteen sections in a fixed order
A current sheet has 16 sections, and the order does not change from brand to brand. The sequence is identification, hazards, composition, first aid, fire-fighting, accidental release, handling and storage, exposure controls and personal protective equipment, physical and chemical properties, stability and reactivity, toxicological information, ecological information, disposal, transport, regulatory information, and other information.
Match the section number to the problem. A splash is Section 4, first aid. A fire is Section 5. Gloves, eye protection, and ventilation are Section 8. Leftover liquid is Section 13, disposal. Section 1 names the product and the supplier. It is not first aid, and swapping it with Section 4 is a common miss. Section 7 writes out closed, cool, away-from-heat storage. Section 3 is where you confirm ethyl methacrylate, acetone, alcohol, or a mixture.
Usable on the shift
The employer must have an SDS for each hazardous chemical and make it available during the shift. A station binder, a dispensary folder every worker can open, or a computer file the staff can reach will do. A cabinet only the owner can open will not. Sheets at a home office, or a password the person at the table does not have, will not either.
A product advertisement is not an SDS. A card that calls the monomer salon strength, or cosmetic directions on a box, does not replace the 16-section sheet. If a sheet is missing, the employer gets one from the supplier before the product is used.
Monomer in the eye
A dappen dish of liquid monomer tips, and drops of ethyl methacrylate or a related methacrylate hit the eye. The immediate steps are the first-aid section of that product's SDS and the eyewash in the salon kit. 49 Pa. Code § 7.71b(a)(4) requires a labeled first aid kit that includes eyewash and burn ointment. Many first-aid sections say to flush for at least 15 minutes and then get medical help. Follow the sheet in front of you. Chapter 7 does not set a flush time, so 15 minutes is an SDS instruction, not a Pennsylvania statute. An acid-based primer or dehydrator uses that product's own Section 4. The monomer sheet does not cover it. Know where the binder is before the service starts. The coworker who is not hurt opens that section and starts the eyewash. Wiping the eye with a dry towel while someone hunts for a key wastes the response the sheet is there to direct. Primer, dehydrator, acetone, and disinfectant each have a different Section 4, so the sheet has to match the bottle that spilled.
Not down the pedicure basin
Leftover liquid monomer and acetone-soaked pads are service waste, not rinse water. Do not pour them down the pedicure basin. Follow Section 13, disposal, and local hazardous-waste rules, which can treat that waste differently from ordinary trash. Pennsylvania does not publish a nail-salon-only dump rule in Chapter 7. A covered waste container is not permission to empty a dappen dish into the foot bath. A spill is Section 6, accidental release, first: keep people clear, move air as the sheet and § 7.91 require, and keep flammable liquid away from flame. Then discard the cleanup materials as Section 13 describes.
Salon scenario
Riley is mid-set when the monomer dish tips into one eye and across the table. A coworker opens Section 4 from a binder every technician can reach without a key and walks Riley to the eyewash. The sheet is followed, including a flush of at least 15 minutes because that sheet says so. No one treats the minute count as a sentence in Chapter 7. Leftover monomer and the acetone pads stay out of the pedicure basin. Section 13 and the salon's local hazardous-waste method decide where that waste goes. Product ads in the same drawer stay ads.
The sixteen sections
| Section | Name | Open it for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identification | Product name and supplier |
| 2 | Hazards | Signal word, statements, and pictograms |
| 3 | Composition | Ingredients |
| 4 | First aid | Eye, skin, breathing, or swallowing |
| 5 | Fire-fighting | What puts out this product |
| 6 | Accidental release | How to control a spill |
| 7 | Handling and storage | How to keep and use it |
| 8 | Exposure controls and PPE | Ventilation and protective equipment |
| 9 | Physical and chemical properties | Appearance, odor, flash point |
| 10 | Stability and reactivity | What makes it unstable |
| 11 | Toxicological information | Health effects |
| 12 | Ecological information | Effects in the environment |
| 13 | Disposal | Leftover product and contaminated waste |
| 14 | Transport | Shipping |
| 15 | Regulatory information | Other rules that apply |
| 16 | Other information | When the sheet was prepared or revised |
The current document is the Safety Data Sheet, in this order, openable on the shift. Section 4 plus the kit eyewash answers an eye splash. Section 13 plus local hazardous-waste rules answers disposal. The pedicure basin answers neither.
OSHA replaced the Material Safety Data Sheet with the Safety Data Sheet. How is a current sheet organized, and where is first aid?
A single advertisement page supplied by the manufacturer
Sixteen sections in a set order, with first aid in Section 4
Sixteen sections in any order, with first aid in Section 1
Eight sections in any order, with first aid in Section 8
When must workers be able to use the Safety Data Sheet for a hazardous chemical in the salon?
Only if the manufacturer mailed a sales brochure instead of a real sheet
Only after the owner unlocks the cabinet at the end of each work week
During the shift, because the employer keeps each sheet available to workers
Only during an inspection, and the sheets may stay off site until then
Liquid monomer splashes into a technician's eye, and leftover monomer remains in the dappen dish. Which response matches the sheet and the salon rules?
Use the SDS first-aid section and eyewash, then the SDS disposal section and local rules
Skip the sheet, follow the cosmetic directions, and drop the pads into the foot bath
Use a flush time Chapter 7 sets by statute, then dump the liquid into the basin
Rinse for a minute count set in Chapter 7, then pour leftover monomer down the basin
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.