CertiGuide to A+ (A+ 4 Real)  9  Chapter 12: Material Safety: a Personal and Technical Report on Hazardous Material Handling       9  Reading and Understanding MSDSs

Concentration Limits and Personal Protective Equipment 1 Section Ten - Storage Data

So, those of you that did not take the previous section serious may now find themselves here needing information on first aid. Welcome to the most read section of a MSDS! When I am looking through the various MSDS binders where I work, the page with the First Aid section is where I find the dirty smudges and fingerprints and even on a few occasions, this page had been torn out.

The first aid section will give the appropriate action to take in the event of a mishap; and when you should seek instant medical assistance. Straightforward stuff, if this happens, and then do this! However, knowing this information before you cause the mishap is better then trying to find the MSDS and read this section after it happens. Most MSDSs will even tell you when you seek medical help. So, if have been using Tcat’s Unreal Kleen for while and are now showing symptoms of “peripheral what ever that adverse effect was called”, you know to let you doctor know that you have been using h-hexane and what urine test may be useful for diagnoses.

A little forethought before engaging in an activity that may require you follow strictly the instructions in section (or other sections) may save you some grief later on. You know, asking yourself “what if questions“. Such as: before you enter that telephone closet, you might want ask yourself, where is the nearest place that I can flush my eyes with water? If there is an eyewash station, is access to it blocked? Where is the nearest fire extinguisher?

The information under the “Inhalation“ heading has the sentence “Immediately remove victim to fresh air, if safe to do.” The “if safe to do“ suggests that before you enter an area where a victim has succumbed, you have to be sure that the reason they succumbed is not because of some thing like a IDLH atmosphere (you remember that acronym from back in the Exposure Control Section, don’t you?). This is particularly important in areas where the oxygen may have been displaced or the toxic concentrations may by extremely high (i.e. in pits or other below grade areas, enclosed areas with poor ventilation, etc.). In plain language, unless you are absolutely sure that whatever caused the victim to succumb will not also cause you to succumb too, don’t go there.

Concentration Limits and Personal Protective Equipment 1 Section Ten - Storage Data