Translating for the EU Industry: Working with Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)

Over the past few years I have often been asked to translate a document characterised by a very precise structure and content: the Safety Data Sheet (SDS). I understood why soon enough: in light of the daily usage several professional sectors make of hazardous chemicals, legislators have intensified not only the approval of laws and regulations aimed at protecting people and the environment, but also the harmonisation of classification and labelling systems for substances and mixtures. At a European level this has led, among other things, to the development of communication tools about dangers and countermeasures that must be written according to specific rules across the entire EU and must be "supplied in an official language of the Member State(s) where the substance or preparation is placed on the market". Safety Data Sheets are one main example of such tools.

This webinar aims at exploring the characteristics of a Safety Data Sheet, highlighting the difficulties inherent in its translation and describing some essential strategies for ensuring that SDS translations into any EU official language are not only correct and precise, but also – and more importantly – comply with the law.

Training program:

• Safety Data Sheets (SDSs): A Brief Introduction
• Legal Bases: Translators Beware!
• The Obstacle Course of "Mandatory Copying and Pasting"...
• … and How to Deal with Texts Left to Our "Free Will"
• Referring to Reliable Websites: Which and How

Please note that the decision of selecting examples taken from Safety Data Sheets compiled according to Regulation (EU) No 453/2010 is due to the delivery date of the webinar. However, it should be taken into account that an increasing number of SDSs is drawn up according to Regulation (EU) 2015/830 as time goes by. All these considered the hints and tips provided in the webinar are still valid and useful.