Do we need to keep safety data sheets (SDSs) after we stop using a chemical and the chemical is no longer at our facility?

For the purposes of 29 CFR 1910.1020(d), an employer must preserve and maintain employee exposure records for 30 years. SDSs indicating that the material may pose a hazard to human health are considered employee exposure records.

SDSs must be kept for those chemicals currently in use that are affected by 1910.1200(g). However, once a hazardous chemical in the workplace is obsoleted, the employer has the choice of preserving and maintaining for 30 more years: (a) the obsolete SDS; or (b) a record concerning the identity of the hazardous chemical, where it was used, and when it was used.

While OSHA does not “specifically” require the employer to document the removal date, it may be helpful to record that date so that an employer knows when the obsolete SDS may be disposed of after 30 years, if that option is taken. If the employer chooses to record the chemical identity and where and when the chemical was used, the employer will indirectly document the removal date because it will be included in the timeframe the chemical was used.

Note that if an employer just keeps the SDS without the other information, the SDSs don’t really meet the original “intent” of 1910.1020. That’s why OSHA “recommends” that if you opt to keep SDSs you also include the when and where information, even though it is not mandated when the SDS option is taken.