SANTA ANA, CA - The City of Santa Ana, Calif., Facilities, Fleet and Central Stores units are transitioning its MSDS (material safety data sheet) management, previously managed with a paper and binder system, to Safettec's comprehensive online management system.

The City's chemical document collection was unaligned with actual chemicals on-site, making it difficult for City staff to know and control the hazards of the chemicals they were using. Compliance was also tough to maintain as MSDS documents were often not acquired, maintained, or archived properly.

Santa Ana looked for a combination of technology and customer service when they evaluated chemical data management. Having used an automated MSDS management system before joining the City of Santa Ana as the Fleet and Stores manager, Rick Longobart understood the importance of customer support when evaluating his options. "Support is the most critical component of a solution; it is needed from the system's conception to its implementation as well as for training and updates," Longobart stated.

"This electronic, Web-based version eliminates the need to keep hard copies on file and allows anyone to access and update the files via a Web browser," Longobart added.

The contact is Facilities, Fleet and Central Stores, but it be used citywide, and the system has drop-down files for each division within the City, Longobart stated. The online management system is expected to free up constrained City resources.