In Australia any hazardous chemical that is used, handled or stored at a workplace must be correctly labelled. This blog focuses on the placards and labels required by Australian WHS Regulations and helps you ensure that the chemical storage facility at your worksite complies with the legislation of your own state or territory.
REMEMBER: to prepare a correct and accurate label for a hazardous chemical, you need to know the correct classification of the hazardous chemical. Please read our earlier post Understanding Chemicals in the Workplace or download our free eBook How to manage the risk of Hazardous Chemicals in the workplace.
Chemical safety placards and signs quickly alert worksite staff and visitors that chemical hazards exist in the workplace. They identify specific hazards (flammable liquids) and outline precautions for anyone using them.
All though it is up to manufacturers, importers and suppliers to correctly label hazardous chemicals, once they reach your workplace and are transferred out of their original container, you are responsible for labelling the new container. You also have responsibilities to ensure chemical storage areas have appropriate warning signs.
Hazardous chemicals labels in Australia have four essential elements: -
Each of these elements will be contained on the product label and the accompanying Safety Data Sheet (SDS), but when storing hazardous chemicals you must also have additional signage to alert personnel they are entering a dedicated chemical storage area.
REMEMBER: pictograms for Hazardous Chemicals are different to pictograms for Dangerous Goods and should not be displayed together.
Chemical warning signs known as placards must also be erected at the workplace in relation to a hazardous chemical. Hazardous chemical placards must be permanent (not portable or moveable) and positioned so that a person entering a chemical storage area will quickly see them. They should also be far enough away from the storage area to give someone enough time (after the first viewing) to heed the warnings.
Some requirements when installing chemical warning signs include:-
REMEMBER: to ensure your signage complies with legislation check the WHS Regulation in your state as well as the Code of Practice for Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals released by SafeWork Australia.
There are huge costs associated with failing to label your chemical storage areas correctly. Though there are three main costs (as indicated below) the human cost is the most difficult to bear.
Ensuring that the hazardous chemical storage areas at your workplace are correctly signed is an important part of effective risk management. Why not download our free eBook How to manage the risk of Hazardous Chemicals in the workplace to learn how to get started with the management of hazardous chemicals. Download it now by clicking on the image below: