The chemical safety gateway: Beyond Google's limitations

The dominance of Google as the default search engine (more than 80% of Internet searches) is not based on its ability to deliver technically useful information. Its search strategy, ranking criteria and business considerations, can mask useful chemical safety information from the safety professional, chemical users and the general public. Fortunately, alternative search engines are available to use to collect both raw health and safety data as well as technical information and policy statements to inform risk assessments. It is important for the health and safety professional to be aware of these alternatives to perform efficient searches and to be able to critically assess information collected from the Internet by the workers they serve. This article describes the challenges presented by Google's strategy and an alternative strategy that allows for more strategic search for chemical safety information.