How long are you required to retain a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the hazardous materials in use at your facility?  Forever?  30 years?  Only until you stop using the material?  A complete answer to that question requires a full understanding of the applicable standards of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and the intent of the regulations.

The quick answer is: yes, 29 CFR 1910.1020 requires you to maintain some record of the identity of the Toxic Substance or Harmful Physical Agent to which employees are exposed for 30 years after the last day of its use.  Note that it does not mandate the use of an MSDS, just “some record”, it is on this point that this simple requirement can become complicated.  OSHA’s intent is to have the employer make important health-related information accessible to current and former employees for as long as it thought might be necessary, this created the retention period of 30 years.  OSHA also wanted employers to include information about when and where the chemical or substance was used.  This last point was resisted by employers, so OSHA compromised and gave employers two options for retaining the information (OSHA letter of interpretation 11.8.85):

1. The MSDS, or
2. The identity of the material (technical name if known) and information about where and when it was used.

Whichever method you choose, your obligation to maintain the information doesn’t end with closure or sale of the facility.  In such an event you must transfer all records to the new employer or to the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

You must keep these records accessible to current and former employees.  If you are unable to provide access to these records within 15 working days, you must tell the employee the reason for the delay and the earliest date you will make records available.

A possible point of confusion is the requirement in the Hazard Communication Standard @ 29 CFR 1910.1200 to make MSDS’s readily accessible to employees during their work shift.  here the regulations clearly require an MSDS, no other form of information will suffice.  For most employers, since they must comply with the Hazard Communication Standard anyway, it is easiest to retain those same MSDS’s to comply with the requirements of record retention in 29 CFR 1910.1020.

If you either ship or receive a hazardous material, including a hazardous waste, then you must also comply with the regulations of the US Department of Transportation and train your HazMat Employees every three years.  I provide  HazMat Employee Training and RCRA Training for Hazardous Waste Personnel.  Review my public/open enrollment training schedule or contact me to discuss on-site training.