If you've seen our range of hazard warning diamond labels for hazardous goods and substances, you may have wondered why these diamond-shaped stickers come in so many different colours and what each of those colours actually means. Today, we'd like to try and explain.
Below, we discuss hazard label meanings, how the colour code works and why you should be using them.
Chemical Hazard Label Colours, Explained
The colour of a hazard label depends on the type of hazard it identifies. For example:
Orange: Explosives (or Irritants)
Orange labels are used to identify explosive substances and articles. Some labels show the sensitivity of the explosive materials using a numerical scale ranging from 1.1 (mass explosion hazard) to 1.6 (extremely insensitive explosives). Orange labels are sometimes also used to identify irritants.
Green: Compressed Gases
Green labels identify compressed gases or items containing compressed gases.
Red: Flammable
Red means fire and so red hazard labels are used to identify flammable goods (including solids, liquids and gases).
Blue: Dangerous When Wet
If a certain article or substance is dangerous when wet, it may be marked with a blue hazard diamond label like this.
Yellow: Oxidising Agents
Yellow labels denote the presence of hazardous oxidising agents.
Black & White: Miscellaneous
Hazards that do not fit into any of the categories described above may be labelled using a black-and-white diamond like the one shown above.
For example, we sell black-and-white labels for corrosive chemicals, toxic/poisonous goods, radioactive materials, infectious substances, and marine pollutants.
Why Are Chemical Hazard Labels Important?
Chemical hazard labels are important for a few key reasons, namely:
- They categorise risks so staff can take appropriate steps to protect themselves
- They help labs, factories and companies to organise chemicals
- They help to outline steps set out in risk assessments
If you don’t use a hazard label, then it becomes difficult to categorise a risk it carries. To an untrained eye, most chemicals look the same – without labels, staff wouldn’t be to quickly protect and safeguard themselves.
What Are The Laws Surrounding Chemical Hazard Labels?
Under UK law, you need to use chemical hazard labels that comply with:
These four acronyms essentially mean the same thing: to use labels that make sense across countries and cultures. They push forward a homogenised labelling system, where pictograms can be understood by anyone.
At Label Source, we stock labels that comply with all three of the above and will be compliant for the long term.
For more information on labelling regulations, consider reading our blog post on the subject: GHS: What Is A GHS Label and Why Is It Used?
Browse Our Range of Chemical Hazard Labels Today
At Label Source, we stock a range of chemical hazard labels for a multitude of uses. No matter what you need, you can trust us to supply high-quality, durable solutions.
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