Why didn’t my upload replace an older version in my eBinder?
Occasionally you might upload a newer version of an SDS in order to replace a safety data sheet that is already in your eBinder.
In order for the Chemical Management system to recognize a safety data sheet as a newer version of one already in your eBinder, the following must match between the two documents:
- Manufacturer name
- Supplier name
- Product name
- Product code
- Language
The same criteria apply to Auto Updates provided by VelocityEHS. The most common reason a newer version of a safety data sheet found in our database did not automatically update the version in your eBinder is that the manufacturer changed the manufacturer or supplier name, product name, or product code.
Note that spaces and certain characters, such as commas and periods, are not included when determining a match between the Product Name or Product Code fields.
For many manufacturers, we created Manufacturer Groups to facilitate better versioning and more Auto Updates. The Manufacturer field displays what is listed on the safety data sheet as the manufacturer. The Manufacturer Group is the parent we have listed in our Master Company List. For documents for which we have created groups, the manufacturer name does not have to be an exact match. For example, Dow Chemical has numerous ways it displays its name on many of its SDSs, such as Dow Chemical USA, Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Rohm and Haas Company, and DowBrands. With manufacturer groups, The Dow Chemical Company will associate all of the different Dow names into one group.
Chemical Management cannot merge two documents together if they did not version due to the changes named above. However, you can still add the newer version to your eBinder and then Archive the older version.
If you have questions about why changes were made to the SDS that caused the document to not version in the system, we recommend you contact the manufacturer to inquire about their SDS authoring procedures and let the manufacturer know that when they change these fields on the SDS it affects your electronic document management system.
