Drum Labels Required Information

According to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (which complies with the OSHA regulations), drum labels need to convey hazard information on the drum’s content.

Hazards are classified into three groups: physical, health and environmental. Physical hazards can be:

• Explosives
• Flammable gases, liquids or solids
• Pyrophoric liquids or solids
• Oxidizing gases or liquids
• Substances corrosive to metal, etc.

Health hazards include:

• Skin corrosion
• Serious eye damage
• Germ cell mutagenicity
• Carcinogenicity
• Aspiration hazard, etc.

Environmental hazards are those that could cause great damage to the environment (water and land).

Drums carrying any of the substances that could cause physical, health or environmental damage should be labeled properly. The elements of drum labels conveying hazardous material include:

• Symbols that convey specific information (for example, some dangerous chemicals are marked with an exclamation mark). All recommended symbols can be found on the UN website.
• Signal words (for example, “Danger” or “Warning”)
• Hazard statements (explanation of the certain type of hazard, e.g. “Explosive”, “Flammable gas” etc.).
• Precautionary statements (suggestion of measures that should be taken to prevent the hazard, how to store the drum’s content and how to dispose of it)
• Product identifier (name or number of the product)
• Supplier identification (name, address, contact information)
• Additional information (any other information the supplier wants to put on the label)