Labelling is a very important part of emergency management. It is generally the first information available to a person if there is an emergency. A label also provides the important information necessary to protect the user and the environment.
What do labels need to contain?
Every container or package held at a location in excess of the trigger quantities listed in Schedule 1 of the Hazardous Substances (Emergency Management) Regulations must have emergency management information on the label or some other means of providing such information. This information must be available within 10 seconds.
The list below sets out what emergency management information must be provided (on a label) for the different hazard classes:
- Explosive (Hazard class 1)
- 24 hour emergency contact details
- Flammable (Hazard classes 2, 3, 4)
- Control temperature*
- Oxidising (Hazard class 5)
- 24 hour emergency contact details
- Fire fighting requirements
- Control temperature*
- Toxic (Hazard class 6)
- 24 hour emergency contact details
- First Aid
- Corrosive (Hazard class 8)
- 24 hour emergency contact details
- Exposure symptoms
- First aid
- Ecotoxic (Hazard class 9)
- Environmental effects
- Environmental mitigation
* = a warning of the temperature at which the substance is likely to ignite (for flammables) or decompose and possibly explode (for oxidisers)
Who is responsible for labelling requirements?
Suppliers or sellers of hazardous substances must ensure that this information is provided with the substances and that it meets the minimum standards of comprehensibility, clarity and durability (generally this will be by way of labels) specified in the Hazardous Substances (Identification) Regulations 2001 as amended.
The Person in Charge of the place where the hazardous substances are held must ensure that the information requirements continue to be met (ie labels stay intact and legible).
Further Information
- A Code of Practice for Labelling is in preparation by the NZ Chemical Industry Council. Check our Code of Practice page for updated information.
- One means of complying with the documentation requirements (Level 2) is a Safety Data Sheet.