The BIG Considerations When Choosing SDS Solutions and Services
It’s no secret that prioritizing employee safety is one of the most important obligations that you have as a business owner. This is especially true when it comes to proper safety data sheet management.
For those who are looking for improved SDS solutions, it’s essential that you keep an eye out for certain attributes. Let’s explore everything you should know.
Scalability
As you might expect, scalability is one of the most important factors to consider. In fact, using a form of safety data sheet management that is not easily scalable will only lead to a handful of complications in the future.
These will often come into play as your company increases in size, as you begin to leverage additional chemicals or substances, etc. In some cases, it could even impact your overall performance or ability to generate revenue.
Through the use of premier safety data sheet software, you’ll have no issues when it comes to expanding your level of service. In fact, there is virtually no limit when it comes to how far you can scale the software that you implement. This is true even for international organizations with a larger number of locations.
So, keep this in mind when considering potential options, as the growth of your company comes with additional SDS responsibilities.
Remote Access
in the past, SDS data was archived in a centralized location that was often on-premise. This meant that you needed to physically visit the facility in order to retrieve archived information.
Remote access, however, provides you with a significant amount of accessibility. Not only are you able to manage this data from any physical location, but you can also rest assured that your data is safely stored.
As long as you have backups of your SDS information in multiple places, you won’t need to worry about physical damage destroying data. A fire, for example, could entirely wipe out your archive of SDS information.
Not only will you need to recover from the scenario financially, but you also need to handle other obligations as quickly as possible (such as becoming compliant).
Overall Efficiency
In most scenarios, it will be essential for you to locate safety data information as quickly as possible. The same can be said for your employees.
In practice, using high-quality SDS software allows you to quickly search for particular information within a centralized database. This means that you can scan through hundreds of different results in order to find the information you’re looking for, a process that often takes only minutes.
Those who utilize alternative methods often find themselves having to open each individual file in order to determine whether or not the data is relevant. As you might guess, this can easily result in you spending a significant amount of time to find the required information.
Compliance
Regardless of what industry you work in, there will be certain standards you will have to adhere to. Failure to do so not only puts the safety of your employees at risk, but it could also come with significant consequences.
To elaborate, let’s assume that your company is audited by a representative from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Compliance issues that they discover could require them to issue fines, fees, and similar penalties.
In a situation where the auditor deems your business to be willfully negligent of its SDS obligations, more serious consequences may occur. Fortunately, the use of safety data sheet management software will illustrate that you are taking the necessary steps in order to keep this information organized and accessible.
Continued Support
Reputable software providers will offer continual support for the products. This means that they will periodically implement new tools, quality improvements, and security measures over time.
If you choose to manually manage safety data sheet information, you will also likely find it difficult to make improvements to your workflow. This level of continued support will also make it easier for you to remain compliant within your industry.
Those who frequently work with hazardous chemicals, for example, will be relieved to find that premier SDS software simplifies access to essential data. For instance, you can easily locate chemical codes, storage locations, and other information to help keep you on track.
As such, it’s important to research your potential software provider and ensure that regular updates will occur.
Full Data Ownership
Interestingly, many people tend to overlook how crucial it is to retain ownership over your own data. Unfortunately, using a library of SDS information that somebody else compiled is essentially borrowing their intellectual property.
This means that you may run into complications when looking to distribute or share this information.
By using your own management software, however, you retain full data ownership. As a result, you can freely export, share, and store this information in accordance with your needs.
A common scenario that business owners encounter involves providing emergency services with SDS data. This will allow them to gain insight into the types of chemicals that you use, their location within the facility, etc.
Finding the Right SDS Solutions Can Seem Complicated
But, the above information will ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible. From here, you’ll have no trouble finding the SDS solutions that are ideal for your business.
Want to learn more about what we have to offer? Feel free to reach out to us today and see how we can help.