Chemical and Petrochemical Translation

The second feature is that these documents rest on internationally harmonised systems. Hazard and precautionary statements, pictograms and classifications are defined by standard codes; the translation must use the accepted official wording for those codes rather than coin a new phrase.

The typical set of documents

Chemical documentation falls into three groups: safety, technical and quality. The common denominator across all three is precision.

The format and approval requirements for these documents are covered in our document guide. On a safety data sheet, having the order of the sections and their headings conform to the standard matters as much as the accuracy of any individual sentence; these documents are read according to a fixed structure.

Where does terminology risk concentrate?

At the core of chemical terminology are the standard hazard and precautionary statements. Each of these has a coded, official wording and free translation is not accepted; an approximate rendering of a warning destroys the compliance of the document. The second difficulty is substance nomenclature: the systematic names and identifying numbers of chemicals must be preserved exactly, because they fix a substance to its identity.

The third risk is numerical data and units. A unit error in a concentration, temperature, pressure or tolerance value has serious consequences for both safety and quality. Converting correctly between systems of measurement is part of the translation itself.

The regulatory context

Chemical documentation is subject to chemicals management frameworks both domestic and international. The points to keep in view when translating are these:

• In Türkiye, the registration of chemicals and safety data sheets are subject to the rules under the KKDİK framework, and the official wording of the standard statements is expected to be used.
• In international trade, the terminology and formatting conventions of frameworks such as REACH and CLP are observed.
• Hazard and precautionary statements must be carried across in their coded wording from the harmonised system.
• In transport documents, the classification information has to be consistent with the applicable transport rules.

KKDİK, REACH and CLP are real frameworks; the specific obligations attaching to any given product vary with its use and its market and should be verified against official sources. A product’s safety data sheet should therefore be checked separately against the current requirements of every market in which it will be sold. That comparison is also what secures consistency between the language versions.

Managing multilingual safety data sheets

The most repetitive item of translation work in the chemical sector is the multilingual safety data sheet. When the same product is sold into many markets, each language needs a version that follows the standard structure of the sheet and meets the requirements of that market. These sheets are not independent texts but language versions of a common source, and consistency between them is critical.

The second difficulty is updating. When the classification of a substance or a hazard statement changes, every language version affected has to be updated at the same time; a sheet updated in one language and left out of date in another creates non-compliance. A change management regime can therefore matter more than the quality of any individual translation.

A library of standard phrases speeds this process up. Once hazard and precautionary statements have been recorded with their coded, accepted wording, new product sheets are built largely from that library, and only the composition and parameter data specific to the product need fresh work.

Why specialist translation is needed

Chemical translation needs a team that knows the standard phrase systems and substance nomenclature. Someone unfamiliar with the field may translate a hazard statement in their own words and render the document non-compliant. A team at home with coded statements, systematic names and unit conversions protects safety and compliance alike. A glossary built around the product portfolio keeps multi-product SDS sets consistent.

In chemical documents, the measure of accuracy is not how freely the translation reads but how exactly it matches the standard phrases. A hazard sentence has to correspond word for word with its accepted wording in the harmonised system; this is the territory of verification, not of creativity.

Checking therefore counts for as much as translating: every statement is verified against the source list. That substance names and identifying numbers have been carried across intact is reviewed once more. A team that knows the coded statement systems can carry out that check reliably.

Ways of working

On the chemical side, the first step in the relationship is taking over the library of standard phrases and the existing structure of the sheets. Once that foundation is in place, new product sheets are produced quickly on top of it. When it is also defined at the outset how every language version will be updated if a classification or a statement changes, the inconsistencies that can otherwise build up between sheets over time are prevented.

The framework model suits manufacturers with many products and many markets: the standard phrase library and the glossary are set up once, and new product sheets are processed quickly within that framework. A one-off technical data sheet can be run as a project instead. You can see prices by volume on our pricing page, and use the quote form for a product portfolio.

This page is for information; procedures and requirements may be updated from time to time. Before applying, ask the competent authority to confirm the position.