MSDS Database

[Matt]

Anyone out there ever attempted an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)
database?
My client needs one (he just doesn't know it yet ;-) ), but the
commercial solutions I've seen are too heavy-duty/expensive for his
outfit...

The idea I have is for a multi-table attached DB (they already have 2
BE's linked to the FE), with about 9 tables for:

PRODUCTS
INGREDIENTS
HAZARDS
FIRSTAID
PPE
HANDLING
etc

The PRODUCTS table will contain all the basic stats (eg Names, Codes,
Melt/Boil points etc) in (mostly) text fields, and the other tables
will consist of 1-2 memo fields for the related descriptions.

One of the points about their products is that they are ID'd by size
(eg ALL20, ALL50 etc), so that one description generally applies to
more than one product - the above design should also allow me to avoid
lengthy repeated descriptions?

TIA for any advice...

 

[Arvin Meyer]

Yes, I did this many years ago in an Access 2.0 database. With newer
versions of Access, it should be easier. Now you can scan the document and
keep it on file, storing the path.

What I did was to paste the text of the sheet into a memo field. I also had
a separate table that contained a list of all the chemicals, with their
common names if there were any, and the associated MSDS for each, so that I
could either search the memo field or the chemical table and get the data I
need.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads:
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access

 

[Matt]

Thanks Arvin,

If I'm reading you correctly you're suggesting I can not only keep a
table of ingredient chemicals, but scan their supplier's MSDS and
store the path to the scan in the same table? I could then display
relevant data sheets as a reference when the user is creating new ones
for their own compounds etc - great idea, thanks - I wonder if they
have a scanner yet? ;-)

Thanks again,

Matt