Use of Material Safety Data Sheets at Workplaces Handling Harmful Substances in Okayama, Japan

In April 2000, the revised Industrial Safety and Health Law, which prescribes the creation and issue of material safety data sheets (MSDSs), was enforced in Japan. Before the enforcement, we conducted a survey relating to the use of MSDSs in hazardous workplaces in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. We sent questionnaires to all workplaces possibly using hazardous chemicals, and answers from 422 workplaces, where hazardous chemicals were used but not produced, were analyzed. One-third of the workplaces did not request MSDSs at the time of chemical transfer. In more than half of the workplaces, MSDSs were not posted or kept. The main reason for such lack of use or misuse of the MSDS system was a lack of knowledge and understanding of the system. In addition, half of the respondents considered that MSDS documents were unsatisfactory because of the difficult words used in them. These two problems, i.e., a lack of knowledge and understanding of the MSDS system, and the use of difficult words in the documents, should be remedied in order for the MSDS system to be implemented effectively and thereby protect workers from the harmful effects of chemicals.