2.4.0.82119100 - Disclosure - Contingent Liabilities And Commitmentstruefalsefalse1false falsefalseD2013Q2YTDhttp://www.sec.gov/CIK0000090185duration2013-01-01T00:00:002013-06-30T00:00:001true 1us-gaap_CommitmentsAndContingenciesDisclosureAbstractus-gaap_truenadurationfalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalse1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsexbrli:stringItemTypestringfalse0Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]2false 2us-gaap_CommitmentsAndContingenciesDisclosureTextBlockus-gaap_truenadurationfalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboseLabel1falsefalsefalse00<div style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:10pt;"><div style="line-height:120%;font-size:10pt;"><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;"></font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Contingent Liabilities and Commitments</font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;font-weight:bold;"> </font></div><div style="line-height:120%;padding-top:12px;font-size:10pt;"><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;">The Company is involved in legal proceedings generally incidental to its business, as described below:</font></div><div style="line-height:120%;padding-top:12px;font-size:10pt;"><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;">The Company is a defendant in several lawsuits and claims related to the normal conduct of its business, including lawsuits and claims related to product liability and personal injury matters. The Company accrues for such liabilities when it is probable that future costs (including legal fees and expenses) will be incurred and such costs can be reasonably estimated. The Company has self-insured retention limits and has obtained insurance to provide coverage above the self-insured limits for claims made against it, including product liability and personal injury claims, subject to certain limitations and exclusions. Reserves have been provided to cover expected payments for these self-insured amounts at </font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;">June 30, 2013</font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;">.</font></div><div style="line-height:120%;padding-top:12px;font-size:10pt;"><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;">At </font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;">June 30, 2013</font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;">, there were no contingent liabilities that management believes are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or liquidity and there were no material commitments outside of the normal course of business. Material commitments in the normal course of business include notes payable, long-term debt, lease commitments and pension and other post-retirement benefit obligations which are disclosed in Note 6 – Notes Payable, Note 7 – Long-Term Debt, Note 9 – Lease Commitments and Note 15 – Pension and Post-retirement Benefit Plans, respectively, to the Company's consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of the Annual Report, as updated in </font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;">Note 7 – Debt</font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;"> and </font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;">Note 10 – Pension and Post-retirement Benefits</font><font style="font-family:inherit;font-size:10pt;"> to the Company's consolidated financial statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this Report.</font></div></div>falsefalsefalsenonnum:textBlockItemTypenaThe entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.25) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6449706&loc=d3e16207-108621 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6398077&loc=d3e12565-110249 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394976&loc=d3e25287-109308 false0Contingent Liabilities And CommitmentsfalseContingent Liabilities And CommitmentsUnKnownUnKnownUnKnownUnKnowntruefalsefalseSheethttp://www.sigmaaldrich.com/role/ContingentLiabilitiesAndCommitments12