GHS keeps categories and labels consistent
The Global Harmonization System (GHS) emerged from the United Nations in 1992. In short, it aimed to keep countries consistent in categorizing and labeling hazardous materials. So, GHS should make it easier to know if something in any container could be harmful. Keeping anything in harmony around the world, though, takes a pretty sophisticated system.
According to the UN’s A Guide to The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS): “The GHS is a system for standardizing and harmonizing the classification and labeling of chemicals.”
The system consists of various pieces. One is defining various hazards—environmental, health, and physical—of chemicals. The UN document also notes that GHS creates “classification processes that use available data on chemicals for comparison with the defined hazard criteria.” Plus, GHS includes a communication component around labeling and what goes on a safety data sheet (SDS).
Other groups and organizations beyond the UN participate in this system and have for many years. In 2012, for example, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) adjusted its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to align it with GHS. That triggered changes in classifications of materials, labeling, and more.
Given the international distribution of many products, consistent communication about hazardous materials is crucial for safety. As the UN points out, “The basic goal of hazard communication is to ensure that employers, employees, and the public are provided with adequate, practical, reliable, and comprehensible information on the hazards of chemicals, so that they can take effective preventive and protective measure for their health and safety.”
As a voluntary system, GHS is not required. Nonetheless, this method of hazard communication makes life safer around the world.
Classification for consistency
Despite countries creating their own regulatory systems, it does not ensure that everyone marks everything the same way. “These systems may be similar in content and approach, but their differences are significant enough to require multiple classifications, labels, and safety data sheets for the same product when marketed in different countries, or even in the same country when parts of the life cycle are covered by different regulatory authorities,” the UN document notes.
Even in the same country, multiple groups can develop standards for classifying hazardous chemicals. In the United States, for example, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, and OSHA all have classification requirements for chemicals.
GHS applies only to hazardous chemicals. But what’s considered hazardous and why can vary depending on who is being asked. In fact, it’s unlikely that any existing system is completely consistent with GHS. “It is anticipated that ALL existing hazard communication systems will need to be changed in order to apply the GHS,” the UN noted.
The land of labeling
To help negotiate this system, J.J. Keller & Associates developed an informative webpage. As noted there, OSHA’s revised HCS requires that a shipping container for hazardous material includes a list of elements: product identifier, pictogram, signal word, hazard statement, precautionary statement, and contact information for the company that is responsible for the material.
The Keller webpage provides details on each element that must be included on a GHS-compliant label. A quick estimate of a material’s hazard level comes from the signal word, such as “DANGER” or the less severe “WARNING.” A label’s precautionary statement, notes the Keller webpage, is “a phrase that describes recommended measures to be taken to minimize or prevent adverse effects resulting from exposure to a hazardous chemical.” In some cases, the precautionary statement could also include recommended first aid in cases of exposure. In brief, the precautionary statement describes preventive measures that should be taken when handling or working with a material.
To see all of the possible pictograms that can be used on GHS-approved labels, visit https://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/pictograms.html. The pictograms can even be downloaded in various formats. These symbols were designed to provide information through an image. For example, a pictogram with a flame on it indicates that a material is flammable.
Beyond safety, GHS can save money. With a standard practice of labeling materials around the world, a product doesn’t need a new label as it moves from one country to another. That costs less and reduces the likelihood of the wrong label ending up on a container.
Easier updating
One globally harmonized system is easier to update than the nearly 200 that would be needed if every country in the world created its own approach. A new standard can be rolled out for GHS, and that goes all the way around the world, as long as everyone pays attention to the updates. To do that, visit the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s “About the GHS” webpage.
Given that GHS is a recommendation and not a law, the intended harmony has a way to go—not every country participates. To see which countries implement GHS and how, see https://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/implementation_e.html.
With so many chemicals being shipped—more than four trillion US dollars’ worth in 2017, according to statista.com—harmonizing the labeling offers many benefits. Imagine wandering through a shipyard and wondering what’s in all of the containers. In that case and many others, a standard form of labeling could go a long way toward keeping people safe all along the chemical supply chain.
Mike May is a freelance writer and editor living in Texas. He can be reached at [email protected]