The label

The sixteen sections

Updated October 2026

On this page9

The requirement The sixteen, in order And the second eight Appendix D sets the content of each Section 14 is where transport reappears Section 15 is regulatory information And section 16 carries the date Sixteen headings is not sixteen sections References

The safety data sheet is a structure before it is a document.

The requirement

Chemical manufacturers and importers shall obtain or develop a safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical they produce or import, in English, including at least the listed section numbers and headings and the associated information, in the order listed.

The sixteen, in order

Identification. Hazard identification. Composition. First-aid measures. Fire-fighting measures. Accidental release measures. Handling and storage. Exposure controls and personal protection.

And the second eight

Physical and chemical properties. Stability and reactivity. Toxicological information. Ecological information. Disposal considerations. Transport information. Regulatory information. Other information, including the date of preparation or last revision.

Appendix D sets the content of each

So the headings are not an outline to fill in freely. Each section has prescribed content, and a sheet that uses the right headings with the wrong content under them is not compliant.

Section 14 is where transport reappears

Transport information, inside the sheet. The same hazards described for the workplace have a transport description too, and the sheet is where the two are reconciled for whoever has to ship it.

Section 15 is regulatory information

Which is where the other regimes get named: the consumer product rules, the pesticide rules, the state programs. A sheet with a thin section 15 is usually a sheet nobody checked against anything.

And section 16 carries the date

Date of preparation or last revision, expressly. A sheet with no date is incomplete on its face, and an undated sheet is the commonest defect in documents received from a small supplier.

Sixteen headings is not sixteen sections

Appendix D sets the content of each one, so a document with the right headings and thin material under them is not a safety data sheet. That is the commonest defect in sheets received from small suppliers.

References

29 CFR 1910.1200(g), Safety data sheets, which requires a sheet for each hazardous chemical produced or imported, in English, with sixteen numbered sections in the order listed and the content of each set out in Appendix D, including section 14 Transport information and section 15 Regulatory information. law.cornell.edu

29 CFR 1910.1200(f), Labels and other forms of warning. Paragraph (f)(1) lists the six required elements on a shipped container: product identifier, signal word, hazard statements, pictograms, precautionary statements, and the name, address and telephone number of the responsible party. (f)(2) requires them to accord with Appendix C for each hazard class and category, prominently displayed and in English; (f)(3) requires the signal word, hazard statements and pictograms to be located together; (f)(5) requires the label not to conflict with the DOT transport rules. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal regulation and from measured catalog data, not from a plant floor. Hazard classification is a technical exercise with appendices behind it, and nothing here classifies a chemical or writes a label. The point of these pages is to show which regime applies and what it asks for.