HAZCOM – Understanding Chemical Labels
Pictograms for the Globally Harmonized System are shown in a diamond shape.
Date Posted: 05/11/2024
In 2012, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised the existing Hazard Communication (HAZCOM) standard and aligned it with the United Nations (US) Globally Harmonized System (GHS). The GHS includes criteria for the classification of health, physical, and environmental hazards, as well as specifying what information should be included on labels of hazardous chemicals and safety data sheets.
Product Identifier
The Product Identifier details how hazardous chemical is identified. This can be (but is not limited to) the chemical name, code number, or batch number. The manufacturer, importer, or distributor can decide the appropriate product identifier. The same product identifier must be both on the label and in Section 1 of the SDS (Identification).
Signal Words
Signal Words indicate the relative level of hazard. “Danger” is used for the most severe instances, while “Warning” is less severe.
Pictograms
Pictograms convey health, physical, and environmental hazard information with red diamond pictograms. May use a combination of one to five symbols. There are thousands of hazardous chemicals used and transported for commercial purposes. The GHS standard streamlines all this information by grouping chemicals into classes. 29 GHS hazard classes describe the hazard type and sometimes a chemical's current state (liquid, solid, or gas). Hazard classes are broken down into three main types: physical hazards (17 classes), health hazards (10 classes), and environmental hazards (2 classes). Since there are only 9 GHS pictograms for 29 classes, only some hazard classes have their own symbol. Instead, the GHS pictograms represent multiple hazard classes with a similar type and level of risk.
GHS Pictograms are shown with their assigned meanings included for each.
Hazard Statement(s)
Hazard Statements are phrases that describe the nature of hazardous products and, often, the degree of the hazard. For example: “Causes damage to kidneys through prolonged or repeated exposure when absorbed through the skin.”
Precautionary Statement(s)
Precautionary Statements are phrases that describe recommended measures that should be taken to minimize or prevent adverse effects from exposure to a hazardous chemical or improper storage or handling.
A Sample container label is shown with the requirements under the HAZCOM standard.
