Joem Chem LLC is always willing to offer guidance with customer regulatory questions. If we don’t know the answer, we usually know who to ask for clarification. Here is a question received from a customer who wasn’t sure what was required for proper labeling of secondary packaging for one of his products.
Question: We ship most of our products in smaller containers inside a box (e.g., 4 gallons of glass cleaner in one outer box). Does the GHS compliant label need to be placed on the outside of that box in addition to the inner containers?
Answer: Under HazCom 2012 (as well as the original Hazard Communication Standard), OSHA requires the label to be on the hazardous chemical’s “immediate container” (i.e., the container that houses the chemical product), but does not require the label to be placed on the outer packaging, although it is permissible to do so. In this example, the GHS label elements of HazCom 2012 must be on the individual gallon bottles but need not be placed on the outer box. Typically, labeling of the outer packaging is governed by DOT if the chemical product meets the definition of a “hazardous material” as per the DOT hazardous material transportation regulations.
There are times, however, where the OSHA HazCom 2012 GHS label must appear on the outer surface of the packaging that is visible during transport along with any applicable DOT labeling.
When the “immediate container” also acts as the “shipped container”, such as in the case of a 55 gallon drum, the container must be labeled consistent with HazCom 2012. In addition, if the product meets the DOT definition of a “hazardous material”, the outside surface of the container would also include appropriate DOT labels, which are similar to the OSHA pictograms (i.e., hazard symbols within a square-on-point red border), along with the HazCom 2012 label.
In those situations, where an OSHA HazCom 2012 label and a DOT label must appear on the same surface of a packaging, OSHA regulations state that the container must be labeled in a manner that does not conflict with the DOT label. Therefore, Appendix C.2.3.3 of HazCom 2012 states that when a “label” required by the DOT hazardous material transportation regulations appears on a shipped container, the pictogram required by OSHA for the same hazard shall not appear.
However, DOT does not view the HazCom 2012 pictogram as a conflict with the requirements of the DOT regulations, and for some international trade, both the DOT and the HazCom 2012 pictograms may need to be present on the label. Therefore, OSHA intends to revise C.2.3.3. In the meantime, OSHA will allow both DOT and HCS 2012 pictograms for the same hazard to appear on the label.
Click here for further information on US Dept. of Labor OSHA GHS Guidelines and here for United Nations GHS Guidelines.