Extract data from safety data sheets

A Safety Data Sheet is the document that tells anyone handling a chemical what it is, how it can hurt them, and what to do when something goes wrong. Under the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, every SDS follows the same 16-section GHS format, which makes it look easy to parse until you have 4,000 of them. An environmental health and safety team at a manufacturer maintains an SDS for every product in the building, from a drum of a specific solvent to a tube of thread locker, each sheet supplied by a different manufacturer such as 3M, Henkel, or Sigma-Aldrich, and each updated on its own revision cycle. The data the team needs sits in predictable sections: Section 1 product identifier and supplier, Section 2 hazard classification and signal word, Section 3 composition with CAS numbers, Section 9 physical properties, and Section 14 transport information.

The challenge is that the 16-section structure is consistent in order but not in formatting. Section 3 lists each hazardous ingredient with a chemical name, a CAS Registry Number such as 67-64-1 for acetone, and a concentration range. Section 2 carries GHS hazard statements as H-codes (H225 for a highly flammable liquid) and precautionary P-codes, and the signal word is either Danger or Warning. Section 14 carries the UN number, the proper shipping name, and the hazard class that a shipping department needs. A sheet can run 11 pages, and a multi-component product lists several CAS numbers that each have to be captured.

Talonic reads the SDS section by section and returns the product identity, the GHS classification with its H-codes and signal word, the composition with CAS numbers and concentration ranges, and the transport classification, so an EHS team can load a chemical inventory and a hazard register without retyping a 16-section sheet.