Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland
Chemical labelling and information
When you receive any chemical it may be supplied with a safety data sheet (SDS). This is sometimes also referred to as a material safety data sheet. The SDS contains information about the chemical including:
- how to store and use it safely
- chemicals it is incompatible with, eg that you should not store it with
- how to dispose of it safely.
When you receive a chemical, check the SDS to find out how to store it safely. If you receive a chemical without an SDS, contact your supplier to find out whether or not they have to provide one.
Understand hazard labels
If the chemical you receive is hazardous it should have a hazard label on it. These labels contain chemical hazard warning symbols that tell you what the risks of a chemical or product are. The hazard label will tell you whether a chemical is:
- explosive
- an oxidising agent
- flammable
- toxic
- harmful
- an irritant
- corrosive
- dangerous to the environment.
You should ensure that you and your staff are familiar with the hazard labels. You can download guidance on how to find out if chemicals are dangerous from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) website.
Mark vehicles that transport chemicals
If you carry chemicals in your vehicle, you must label your vehicle with the appropriate hazard warning label for those chemicals.
If you transport dangerous chemicals you must meet further requirements for packaging, labelling and documentation.
Northern Ireland: HSENI: Carriage of dangerous goods
Scotland: HSE: Carriage of dangerous goods
Manufacturing and supplying chemicals
If you manufacture or supply chemicals you may need to provide an SDS to your customers. This is now a requirement of the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) Regulation. You can download guidance on REACH and SDSs from the HSE website.
HSE: Reach and Safety Data Sheets (PDF, 158K)
If you manufacture or supply chemicals or chemical products you must also package and label them with the appropriate hazard labels.You can find hazard warning label information on the HSE website.
Further information
Northern Ireland: HSENI: carriage of dangerous goods
Scotland: HSE: Carriage of dangerous goods
In this Guideline
Storage, handling and delivery of chemicals
Bulk chemical storage - tanks and drums
Secondary containment systems for chemicals
Small-scale chemical storage - Cabinets, shelves and vehicles
Chemical labelling and information
Avoiding and dealing with chemical spills
Temperature controlled chemical storage
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