Translate a safety data sheet into Italian

What an SDS for Italy has to contain

Under REACH, a safety data sheet must be provided in the official language or languages of the Member State where the product is placed on the market. For Italy, that means Italian, whatever language your original sheet is written in. The structure stays the Annex II format: sixteen numbered sections, which in Italian run from SEZIONE 1: Identificazione della sostanza o della miscela e della società/impresa to SEZIONE 16: Altre informazioni.

Much of an Italian SDS is standardised wording set at EU level, notably the hazard statements (indicazioni di pericolo, H codes) and precautionary statements (consigli di prudenza, P codes). Italian safety officers and carriers recognise these sentences word for word, so a paraphrase, even an accurate one, makes the whole sheet look unreliable.

Some sections also have a national dimension. Section 1.4 needs an emergency telephone number that works from Italy, and section 15 often cites Italian legislation such as D.Lgs. 81/2008 on health and safety at work. Those are content decisions, not translation choices.

What changes when the sheet goes into Italian

Italian runs at roughly the same length as French and slightly longer than English, so the tables in section 9 (physical and chemical properties) and section 11 (toxicological information) usually fit without reworking. The points that matter lie elsewhere.

• Fixed H and P wording. H225 becomes “Liquido e vapori facilmente infiammabili.”, H319 “Provoca grave irritazione oculare.”, H302 “Nocivo se ingerito.”. These must match the official text.
• Impersonal infinitive, not “Lei”. Formal Italian addresses the reader as “Lei”, but an SDS gives instructions in the infinitive: P102 reads “Tenere fuori dalla portata dei bambini.” A form such as “Tenga lontano…” would be out of place.
• Signal words. “Danger” is Pericolo and “Warning” is Attenzione; no other wording is acceptable.
• Abbreviations. LD50 and LC50 appear as DL50 and CL50; CAS and EC numbers are written N. CAS and N. CE; the UN number is the numero ONU in section 14.
• Numbers and units. Decimal comma and a space before the unit: “densità relativa 0,87”, “punto di infiammabilità 12 °C”. A decimal point left over from an English source is a common error.
• Accents. “è”, “più”, “perché”; the capital form is “È”, not “E'”, a frequent fault in converted sheets.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not do

Your sheet is translated by Curie, the engine specialised in scientific and medical texts, which matters for toxicology, ecotoxicology and personal protective equipment (dispositivi di protezione individuale). The file comes back in its original format with its layout: a Word file stays Word, a PDF stays PDF, an Excel sheet stays Excel. Hazard pictograms, being images with no text, stay where they are. A typical SDS of a dozen pages is delivered within minutes and kept in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• it does not reassess the classification, exposure limits or emergency numbers; it translates what is written;
• it does not read scanned PDFs, meaning images with no selectable text;
• it does not produce sworn (certified) translations. If an Italian authority or customer requires one, you will need a sworn translator.

For a sheet you will send to an Italian customer or distributor, the Professional level fits that use; Essential is enough to understand an Italian SDS received from a supplier.

Preparing the file and checking the Italian version

Before uploading:

• start from the latest revision of the sheet in the current Annex II format; translating an outdated SDS simply produces an outdated Italian one;
• use the source file (Word, or a PDF exported with selectable text) rather than a scan;
• make sure every H and P statement carries its code, not just the sentence: the code is what lets you check the Italian wording.

For the free sample, pick a paragraph from section 2 or 8 if you can, so you see how hazard statements and protective equipment are rendered. A trade name or mixture name that must stay unchanged is checked the same way, on the sample and then on the full translation.

After delivery:

• compare each H, P and EUH statement with the official Italian text;
• check section 1.4: the emergency number must be reachable from Italy, where the poison centres (centri antiveleni) are the usual reference;
• have section 15 reviewed by someone who knows the Italian rules that apply to your product;
• check decimal commas in the tables of sections 9 and 11.

In practice

1. Export the latest revision of your SDS as Word or as a PDF with selectable text.
2. Upload it: the quote appears straight away, based on the exact word count.
3. Request the free sample on a paragraph from section 2 or 8 and check the H and P statements.
4. Pay, then download the scheda di dati di sicurezza in its original format.
5. Have sections 1.4 and 15 checked by someone familiar with the Italian market.