A safety data sheet compiled under REACH has sixteen sections, in a fixed order, with fixed headings. The order is not a convention — it is set out in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, as replaced by Regulation (EU) 2020/878. A sheet that reorders them, merges them or leaves one out is not in the required format.
Why the order is fixed
The fixed order exists so that a person who needs one piece of information can find it without reading the document. Someone dealing with a spill goes to section 6. Someone loading a vehicle goes to section 14. Someone filling in a workplace risk assessment goes to sections 8 and 11. If the order varied between suppliers, none of that would work under time pressure, which is exactly when safety data sheets are read.
Each section also has required subsections, numbered 1.1, 1.2 and so on. Annex II specifies what belongs in each. Where information is not available or not applicable, the sheet says so — a subsection is not simply dropped.
The sixteen sections
1. Identification of the substance or mixture and of the company or undertaking
The product identifier, relevant identified uses and uses advised against, details of the supplier who is placing the material on the market, and an emergency telephone number. The supplier named here is the one carrying the legal duty for the sheet.
2. Hazards identification
Classification under CLP, the label elements — signal word, pictograms, hazard statements, precautionary statements — and any other hazards that do not result in classification, such as dust explosion potential.
3. Composition and information on ingredients
For a substance: identity, identifiers and any impurities that affect classification. For a mixture: the hazardous components, their concentrations or concentration ranges, and their classifications.
4. First-aid measures
Measures by route of exposure — inhalation, skin, eyes, ingestion — the most important symptoms and effects, both acute and delayed, and an indication of any immediate medical attention or special treatment needed.
5. Firefighting measures
Suitable and unsuitable extinguishing media, special hazards arising from the substance such as hazardous combustion products, and advice for firefighters.
6. Accidental release measures
Personal precautions and protective equipment, environmental precautions, and the methods and materials for containment and cleaning up. This is the section reached for in an emergency, which is why it sits early.
7. Handling and storage
Precautions for safe handling, and conditions for safe storage including any incompatibilities. Specific end uses may be named here.
8. Exposure controls and personal protection
Occupational exposure limit values where they exist, derived no-effect levels (DNELs) and predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) where they have been derived, engineering controls, and personal protective equipment specified by type rather than by brand.
9. Physical and chemical properties
Appearance, odour, melting and boiling point, flash point, flammability, vapour pressure, density, solubility, partition coefficient, viscosity and the rest of the list Annex II sets out. Under Regulation 2020/878 this section is split into basic properties and other information, and particle characteristics are required for substances placed on the market as solids.
10. Stability and reactivity
Reactivity, chemical stability, possibility of hazardous reactions, conditions to avoid, incompatible materials and hazardous decomposition products.
11. Toxicological information
Effects by route of exposure, with the data they rest on. Acute toxicity, skin and eye effects, sensitisation, germ cell mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, specific target organ toxicity and aspiration hazard each have their own place here.
12. Ecological information
Aquatic and terrestrial toxicity, persistence and degradability, bioaccumulative potential, mobility in soil, results of PBT and vPvB assessment, endocrine disrupting properties, and other adverse effects.
13. Disposal considerations
Waste treatment methods for the material and for contaminated packaging, and the relevant provisions of waste legislation. Waste classification is a national matter, so this section is where a sheet most often needs adapting to a destination country.
14. Transport information
UN number, proper shipping name, transport hazard class, packing group, environmental hazards, special precautions, and transport in bulk where applicable. The entries here follow ADR, RID, ADN, IMDG and ICAO/IATA rather than CLP — a substance can be classified as hazardous under CLP and still be unregulated for transport, and the reverse also happens.
15. Regulatory information
Safety, health and environmental regulations specific to the substance, including authorisation and restriction status under REACH, and whether a chemical safety assessment has been carried out.
16. Other information
The full text of hazard and precautionary statement codes used elsewhere in the sheet, abbreviations, key literature references, and information on revision — what changed and when.
What the format does not tell you
A document in the sixteen-section format is not, by that fact alone, correct. The structure says where information belongs; it says nothing about whether the information placed there is right for the material in your container. Composition, concentration, impurity profile and intended use come from the supplier who places the material on the market, and only that supplier can confirm them.
There is also no certification scheme for safety data sheets in the European Union. No authority approves or stamps them. Under REACH the duty sits with the supplier, and a sheet obtained from a third party supports that duty without transferring it.
Where MolGod fits
Every documentation product in the MolGod catalogue is built on this structure, and every substance page shows the underlying data — identity, classification, physicochemical values and regulatory status — with the source behind each value, before anything is bought. Browse the catalogue or read how a document is put together.
Legal basis: Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), Annex II, as replaced by Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/878. Classification terms follow Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP).