This X12 Transaction Set contains the format and establishes the data contents of the Material Safety Data Sheet Transaction Set (848) for use within the context of an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) environment. The transaction set can be used to communicate chemical characteristics, hazards, and precautions for the safe handling and use of a material. The transaction set is intended to convey the information required for a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200 in the United States, and Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHIMS) in Canada, and various state, province, and local requirements under right-to-know legislation.

The MSDS provides the receiver with detailed information concerning material identity, emergency response, chemical and physical characteristics, toxicology, and industrial hygiene procedures.

State and federal law dictate who is obligated to provide the MSDS and to whom it should be issued. In addition, third-party providers or others with no statutory obligation may voluntarily provide an MSDS to anyone.

This transaction set allows for transmission of MSDS data in a structured, unstructured, or semi-structured form.
CAUTION: With this transaction set, text format is critical due to the MSDS's primary role as a vehicle for hazards communication. The risk if this information is not transmitted clearly and accurately could be harmful to human life, harmful to the environment, could cause mishandling of product, could result in regulatory non-compliance, and could result in liability.

Trading partners need to agree on how to interpret, store, and display/print MSDS text, especially text contained in the MSG and SD1 segments. For example, a sender may wish to format text so that one print line is mapped to one MSG segment. Segment terminator and data element delimiter characters shall not appear in any MSDS data.

WARNING: Alteration of the original document will occur if the EDI translator or application software converts characters to uppercase. This may adversely affect the appearance, effectiveness, clarity, readability, and communicability of the printed MSDS document.