MSDS Business Opportunities in India

Globalization has made the world a small village where business in one country has an effect on the others. This is more relevant for a developing country like India, which is emerging as a place for sourcing raw materials, finished consumer product or services. MSDS and related activities will certainly play an important role in modifying and influencing the way the business is done in future.

It started in the eighties, when Multinational companies with the manufacturing base in India started demanding MSDSs from the Indian raw material suppliers. Without knowledge of the fundamentals of MSDS compliance, manufacturers provided only technical literature and information on the storage and handling of the raw material supplied. In the nineties, exports became more important as well as the need for more detailed MSDSs for employee safety in the importer’s workplace. Now, with all importers being concerned about the Environment and Safety, even more emphasis is placed on material safety data. Implementation of REACH by the EU makes MSDSs an important and useful source document for Environment, Occupational Health and Safety.

MSDS is an essential requirement for regulatory compliance laid down by OSHA, in the US, or similar compliance by its counterparts in other countries. So, basically MSDS must satisfy the requirement laid down by the respective authorities. The Indian material supplier then has to satisfy the customer’s demands with respect to MSDS, which will enable importers to observe the rules and regulation in the importer’s country. While MSDS must fulfill the basic purpose of Hazard communication, the importance of MSDS does not end there. MSDS is important for getting the business. It is certainly a marketing tool.

Indian industry acknowledges the importance of MSDS for their business. Environment and Occupational Health and Safety objectives are certainly there. But, frankly the threat of losing the business, if one cannot provide the proper MSDS, is certainly at the top of the mind. There are stringent rules and regulations to be observed for Environment and Health and Safety of the workers and other interested parties. Efforts are made in this direction. Proper implementation is however decided by the fact: How rigorous is the damage for violating the compliance rules? Rules which cannot be implemented, just remain a rule, and at worst becomes good ground for corruption. A large number of trained personnel are required for vigilance. In the absence of this a proper implementation of E&; OHS regulations, is in question.

In short as the ‘health’ of the business demands, MSDS required by the buyer must be provided. It is essential to the customer that MSDS compliance be maintained. As the demand from the buyer for proper MSDS gets more and more stringent, the quality of MSDS will also improve. Multinational and many large business groups already have proper MSDS. It is the smaller and medium size exporting businesses however, that run into problems.

Indian industry can be better equipped to cater to overseas buyers with help from international players in authoring MSDS. Software for writing MSDS or revising already existing MSDS are also jobs to be done. In house authoring MSDS is possible. However it certainly makes a better business sense to give the job to experts in the field. It certainly justifies the potential damage to business, if the MSDS is inaccurate. Sensing the opportunity organizations that can provide the services related to MSDS are already in touch with Indian industry.

REACH related service is another opportunity for the service providers. EU or US based service providers can benefit from testing services offered in India which are more economical compared to US or EU countries.