3E Company, a leading provider of environmental health and safety (EH&S) compliance and information management services, today reported on its role in the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s (RILA) recently announced Safety Data Sheet (SDS) initiative. With the introduction of the initiative — which aims to help retailers streamline the process for safely handling chemical products — 3E stands ready to assist participating retailers obtain critical data from suppliers while enhancing their conformance with federal regulations.

As part of the initiative, RILA has created an SDS template that aligns with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard 2012 (HazCom 2012). The Standard provides an opportunity for the retail industry to upgrade requests for chemical information, since consumer packaged goods manufacturers must rewrite their SDSs to conform.

To streamline the exchange of this critical information, RILA’s SDS Working Group, of which 3E is a founding member, created an SDS template to help retailers obtain information from suppliers and to assist them in properly handling chemical products for the benefit of customers, workers, communities, and the environment. The template includes sections not mandated by HazCom 2012, since OSHA lacks jurisdiction in certain areas (for example, DOT, EPA, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act).

For more information, please view RILA’s FAQ document.

“The recent changes to the HazCom Standard provided an opportunity for the retail industry to upgrade requests for chemical information, since chemical manufacturers must rewrite their SDSs based on the global harmonization criteria. A standard retailer request will not only enhance consistent communication regarding chemical information in the supply chain, but it will also assist retailers in properly handling chemical products for the benefit of customers, workers, communities, and the environment,” said Lisa LaBruno, senior vice president of retail operations for RILA. “Through its participation with RILA’s SDS Working Group, 3E has demonstrated its thought leadership in the area of SDS data management and brings a unique perspective that has contributed to the overall success of the initiative.”

Having access to accurate and up-to-date SDSs and SDS data is imperative for retailers wanting to create and maintain a safe work environment while achieving compliance with federal, state, and regional environmental regulations. However, obtaining this information from manufacturers or suppliers can be cumbersome and time-consuming. 3E Company has an extensive history of leadership in serving the needs of both retailers and manufacturers, and its experts are uniquely positioned to support both the upstream manufacturer creation and the downstream retailer management of SDSs.

Available solutions for retailers include the 3E Online®-MSDS Management System, which includes a unique Revision Alert feature; an SDS obtainment service; transportation classification services and waste classification services; and HazCom 2012 training. Solutions for manufacturers include the MSDgen® SDS authoring system, 3E SDS and Label Authoring services, and the 3E MSDS Hosting and Push Distribution System. For more information on 3E’s available suite of solutions, please click here.

“Over the past 20 years, 3E Company has demonstrated extensive leadership in successfully serving the needs of the retail market. The introduction of HazCom 2012 presents the retail industry — along with consumer product goods manufacturers — with many challenges,” said Matt Young, manager, national accounts, 3E Company. “3E stands ready to help both retailers and manufacturers navigate this complex new standard and its associated SDS requirements. We applaud RILA for undertaking such an important initiative and look forward to continuing to serve RILA and its member companies in the years to come.”

3E has been a proud supporter of RILA for more than ten years. In addition to their active participation in the SDS Working Group, the company’s experts regularly speak at the association’s Retail Sustainability and Compliance Conference, sharing the practical wisdom they have gained in working with the world’s top retailers for the last 20 years.

For more information about 3E’s retail service and support, please click here or e-mail retailsupport@3ecompany.com.

About 3E Company

3E Company, a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK), offers a comprehensive suite of data, products, and services for environmental health and safety (EH&S) compliance management. This solutions suite addresses the entire chemical life cycle and includes regulatory research; MSDS authoring, distribution, and management; transportation; emergency response; training; regulatory reporting; and hazardous waste management. 3E provides an industry-leading combination of a 24/7/365 EH&S mission-control call center and the world’s premier hazardous substance database of global regulatory and compliance information. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, with additional operations in Canton, Ohio; Bethesda, Maryland; Kingsport, Tennessee; Montreal, Quebec; and Copenhagen, Denmark. For more information on 3E Company, visit www.3ecompany.com.