Improving the Navy's Material Safety Data Sheet Management Process

摘要

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) Hazard CommunicationStandard requires employers to provide Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) to their employees for all hazardous chemicals used at a work Site. The DoD instruction 6050.5 defines this requirement for DoD services and agencies. While the current process currently meets the requirements mandated by regulations it relies primarily upon paper and the U.S. Mail before ultimate distribution to DoD employees via the Hazardous Material Information System (HMIS). This reliance on paper results in a slow, labor-intensive process which delays the dissemination of vital safety information. In addition the policy is currently enforced to require collection of an MSDS for every procurement action, even if the Same record previously exists within HMIS. By clarifying policy to require collection of only original MSDSs and those developed by a manufacturer, the Navy could reduce processing volume by 70%. In addition, incorporating electronic data interchange (EDI) into the process would reduce the requirement for manual processes such as data entry allow for parallel processing, and reduce the time required for quality control and eventual distribution. By clarifying policy and reengineering the business process to include EDI, we estimate the Navy could realize a savings potential of more than 500/c of the current program cost. The technology for these improvements is available, but the Navy must carefully plan a migration strategy toward electronic processing which includes close coordination with industry trading partners.