Secondary container label

Chemicals are often moved into spray bottles, jugs, squirt bottles or small tanks for convenience. Once poured, the original supplier label is no longer on the new container, so a worker picking it up may have no idea what is inside. Unlabeled bottles have led to poisonings, burns and dangerous mixing.

Under OSHA HazCom, 29 CFR 1910.1200, workplace containers generally need the product identifier plus words, pictures or symbols that give specific information about the hazards. An employer may copy the supplier's label elements, or use a system such as NFPA 704 or HMIS if it supplies equivalent information and fits with the other communication measures at the site. An exception, in 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(8), covers portable containers intended only for the immediate use of the employee who performed the transfer.

A good label is durable, legible, resistant to the chemical it holds and attached to the container itself rather than the lid. Contents should match the label, and old labels must be removed or covered when a container is reused for something different. Never reuse food or drink containers.

A secondary container label is one kind of Workplace label, separate from the original supplier label, and both feed into the written hazard communication program. Workers should be trained to label every transfer, and the label should point back to the SDS kept in the SDS binder. Keeping a few pre-printed labels at the point of use makes compliance easier.