INTERTANKO Paper on Chemical Tanker Safety Data Sheets

During last April INTERTANKO, in collaboration with industry stakeholders including shipowner representatives and organisations representing shippers (IPTA, CDI, CEFIC, DGAC), has worked on and put together an information paper on the requirements for Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for Chemical Tankers. A summary of this paper is presented in this article.

Safety Data Sheets (SDS) or Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are documents which convey hazard information to anyone who may be involved in the preparation, handling, use and/or carriage of substances or mixtures that may be hazardous or may contain hazardous ingredients. These could be workers, health and safety professionals, emergency personnel etc.

Regulation 16.2.2 of the IBC Code states that the product name listed in chapter 17 or 18 of the Code or the latest edition of the MEPC.2/Circ must be included on the shipping document for any cargo offered for shipment in bulk.

For practical purposes, the shipping document is normally the Bill of Lading (B/L), when the Bill of Lading does not show the product name as per the IBC code then an “optional shipping document” as described in IMO BLG.1/Circ.18 may be used.

It must be emphasized that it is not the responsibility of the ship’s Master to verify cargo identification or specifications and loading should not commence before the ship’s Master is satisfied that the Shipper has provided the necessary information for safe handling of the cargo and it is available to the personnel involved.

Information in an SDS/MSDS should be presented in the recommended 16‐section format and in the order given below:

Section 1: Identification meaning the name/identity of the product or the mixture (GHS Identifier) along with other relevant information that can properly identify the product.
Section 2: Hazard(s) identification
Section 3: Composition/information on ingredients
Section 4: First‐aid measures
Section 5: Fire‐fighting measures
Section 6: Accidental release measures
Section 7: Handling and storage
Section 8: Exposure controls/personal protection
Section 9: Physical and chemical properties
Section 10: Stability and reactivity
Section 11: Toxicological information
Section 12: Ecological information
Section 13: Disposal considerations
Section 14: Transport information
Section 15: Regulatory information
Section 16: Other information