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With these methods, the user fills in all information manually. GHS subscription services can offer autofill options.
The Basics of GHS
Durability & Compliance
If you’re shipping chemicals by sea, label durability will be paramount to achieving GHS compliance. Unlike the six GHS label elements, which are regulated by OSHA, la- bel durability for chemicals traveling by sea is regulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The IMO requires International Mari- time Dangerous Goods (IMDG) certifi- cation, which includes British Standard BS5609 for label durability in marine en- vironments. These requirements are very stringent and require two different levels of testing in order to ensure GHS labels will remain intact and legible in overseas ship- ping conditions.
If you’re not shipping overseas, there are no GHS guidelines for durability. How- ever, OSHA can issue citations if your GHS labels are missing or no longer intact and legible. Labels with strong permanent ad- hesive, chemical resistance and resistance to general wear and tear in heavy-duty environments are strongly recommended to help avoid citations due to damaged or missing labels.
Summary of GHS
Label Compliance Tips
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) contain all the information needed in order to create a compliant GHS label. Although SDS are incredibly detailed and include 16 sec- tions, you only need Sections 1-3 to cross- check the six required elements of a GHS label. Color-coding your SDS and using a GHS label-to-SDS reference table can help streamline in-house GHs label inspections and help ensure accuracy come OSHA in- spection day.
GHS pictograms are the only design element required by OSHA, and durabil- ity compliance is only regulated by IMO if you’re shipping chemicals oversees. Aside from those two factors, label design and durability requirements are largely up to the safety and compliance team and should be optimized for effectiveness and user efficiency.
Options for creating effective GHS label designs without a graphic designer include free online templates, templates
included with label printer software and low-cost GHS subscription services for online label design software. GHS sub- scription services can also assist with fill- ing in GHS label information provided it includes a chemical database. Other ways to find GHS label information include the original primary container label or a stand-alone chemical database.
Following these guides can help ease points of difficulty for safety and com- pliance teams. Start implementing these practices today to help make it easier for your team to find required GHS label in- formation, use SDS to quickly check ac-
curacy and design effective and compliant GHS labels.
JoAnn Mrgich is a Technical & Content Writer for Avery Industrial. She writes in- depth articles that span a wide variety of top- ics from safety compliance to 5S lean practic- es. Colwin Chan is Group Product Manager for Avery Industrial, a division of Avery Products Corporation. He is instrumental in the creation and development of propri- etary product lines for the safety & industrial market. For more information about Avery Industrial, visit avery.com/industrial or call 800-832-8379.
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