Safety data sheets

How to get one

Ask us, and we will email it — usually the same working day. Send the product name or the SKU through the contact form and pick “A product question” as the topic, or call 01902 000 118 between 8am and 5pm on a working day. There is no charge, you do not need an account, and we will not put you on a mailing list for asking.

Need the whole set for a COSHH file rather than one sheet? Say so and we will send everything for the lines you buy in one go.

We do not host the sheets for download on the product pages yet. We would like to, and it is on the list — but saying so is more use to you than a link that is not there. Until it exists, the request route above is the way to get one, and it reaches the same people who pick the orders rather than a queue.

What a safety data sheet is for

It tells you what is in a product, what it does to you if it goes wrong, how to store it, how to fight a fire near it and what to do if somebody swallows it. If you use chemicals at work you need them on file: the COSHH regulations put that duty on the employer, and the sheet is where the assessment starts.

Suppliers are obliged to provide one for any hazardous product, and we will never charge you or make you justify the request.

The lines that have one

These are the hazardous products in the current range. The summaries below are not a substitute for the sheet — request it before first use:

• Caustic soda drain unblocker pearls, 5 kg — sodium hydroxide. A strong alkali that causes severe skin burns and serious eye damage. Gloves and eye protection are not optional, and it must never be mixed with an acidic drain product.
• Drain unblocker — sold to over-18s only, with the same handling precautions.
• Isopropyl alcohol 99.9%, 1 L — highly flammable and an eye irritant. Needs ventilation and keeping away from ignition sources, including static.
• Spray paints and paint remover wipes — flammable aerosols and solvents. Ventilate, no naked flames, and do not pierce or burn the can even when it is empty.
• AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid — not classified as hazardous, but it corrodes some metals and should be stored out of direct sunlight. The sheet is there anyway, because fleets file them.

If you buy the same lines regularly

Tell us and we will email the current sheets whenever a manufacturer revises one, rather than leaving you to notice. Ask through the contact form or mention it when you open a trade account. We arrange this by hand today, so it is a person adding you to a list, not a setting you switch on.

Using them properly

• Request the sheet before the first use, not after an incident.
• Keep them where the people using the product can actually reach them.
• Ask again after a reformulation — sheets are revised, and the copy in your file goes stale.
• The sheet supports a COSHH assessment. It is not a substitute for one.

Safety data sheets are produced by the manufacturer and reproduced unchanged. Where the label on the container and the sheet ever disagree, follow the label and tell us.