GHS Labels: Required Elements, Pictograms, and OSHA Rules

Every container of hazardous chemicals shipped or used in a U.S. workplace needs a label built to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, and OSHA enforces those GHS labels through its Hazard Communication Standard at 29 CFR 1910.1200. A compliant shipped-container label carries six required elements, uses standardized red-diamond pictograms, and has to stay readable for as long as the chemical is in use.

The Six Required Label Elements

Every container of hazardous chemicals leaving a manufacturer, importer, or distributor must display all six of the following:

Product identifier — the chemical name or code, matching the name on the Safety Data Sheet.
Signal word — either “Danger” for more severe hazards or “Warning” for less severe ones. Only one signal word ever appears on a label.
Hazard statements — standardized phrases describing the hazard, such as “Causes serious eye damage” or “Highly flammable liquid and vapor.”
Precautionary statements — instructions covering prevention, first aid, safe storage, and disposal.
Pictograms — red diamond-bordered symbols identifying the hazard types.
Supplier identification — the name, U.S. address, and U.S. telephone number of the manufacturer, importer, or other responsible party.

Missing even one element can trigger a citation during an OSHA inspection.¹

The Nine Pictograms and What They Mean

GHS uses nine pictograms. Each is a black symbol on a white background inside a red diamond-shaped border, and that color and shape are non-negotiable.

Flame: flammable liquids, gases, aerosols, and solids, plus pyrophoric and self-heating chemicals.
Flame over circle: oxidizers that can intensify a fire.
Exploding bomb: explosives, self-reactive chemicals, and certain organic peroxides.
Gas cylinder: gases under pressure or chemicals under pressure.
Corrosion: chemicals that burn skin, seriously damage eyes, or corrode metals.
Skull and crossbones: acutely toxic substances that can be fatal or toxic from a single exposure.
Health hazard: carcinogens, reproductive toxins, respiratory sensitizers, and chemicals that damage specific organs over time.
Exclamation mark: irritants, skin sensitizers, chemicals harmful (but not fatal) in acute exposure, and narcotic effects.
Environment: substances hazardous to aquatic life or the ozone layer.

OSHA only mandates eight of the nine on U.S. workplace labels. The environment pictogram, the dead fish and tree, is not required under federal OSHA rules because OSHA covers worker safety rather than environmental protection. Manufacturers may add it voluntarily, and it commonly appears on labels from international suppliers.²

Precedence Rules When Multiple Hazards Apply

Chemicals often fall into more than one hazard category. The rules keep labels from carrying conflicting signal words or duplicative symbols.

Signal words follow a simple rule. If any hazard category calls for “Danger,” that word appears alone, and “Warning” drops off entirely, regardless of how many other categories would have called for “Warning.”³

Pictograms work by the same logic. When a more severe symbol already appears, the milder one is removed:

If the skull and crossbones is present, the exclamation mark drops off for acute toxicity.
If corrosion is present, the exclamation mark drops off for skin or eye irritation.
If the health hazard pictogram is present for respiratory sensitization, the exclamation mark drops off for skin sensitization or skin and eye irritation.

A chemical that is acutely fatal does not also need a symbol saying it is an irritant. Getting these precedence calls right is one of the trickier parts of building a label, and it is a common source of inspection findings.⁴

Workplace Labels Versus Shipped Container Labels

Labels arriving from the manufacturer carry the full six-element treatment, and employers must never remove or deface them. For containers the employer fills or maintains in-house, there are two options.

Option one: replicate the full shipped-container label, all six elements. Option two, lighter: the product identifier plus words, pictures, symbols, or any combination that conveys general hazard information. That second option works only when employees also have immediate access to the Safety Data Sheet and the employer’s written hazard communication program fills in the rest.¹

Stationary process containers get more flexibility. Signs, placards, batch tickets, or written operating procedures can stand in for a label as long as they identify the containers they apply to and stay accessible to workers throughout the shift.¹

Small Containers and Portable Containers

The 2024 update to the Hazard Communication Standard added formal small-container provisions.

Containers holding 100 mL or less may use an abbreviated label showing the product identifier, pictograms, signal word, and the manufacturer’s name and phone number. The outer packaging still carries the full label. For containers holding 3 mL or less, only the product identifier is required on the container, provided the manufacturer can show that any additional label would interfere with the product’s normal use. The outer packaging again carries the complete label.⁵

Portable containers are treated more loosely. When an employee transfers a chemical from a labeled container into a portable container for their own immediate use during that same shift, no label is required. That exemption ends the moment the container is set aside for later, handed to another worker, or left at shift’s end. At that point it needs a workplace label.¹

The Consumer Product Exemption Is Narrower Than It Looks

Household cleaners and other consumer items sometimes appear in workplaces. Under 29 CFR 1910.1200(b)(6)(vii), consumer products are exempt from GHS labeling when employees use them in a way comparable to normal consumer use. The test is whether duration and frequency of exposure stay within what a typical person would experience at home.⁶

The exemption breaks quickly in practice. A janitor using the same all-purpose cleaner for eight hours a day is well past normal consumer exposure, and the exemption does not apply. The employer carries the burden of showing that workplace use actually mirrors consumer use. When the answer is unclear, treat the product as hazardous and provide the full hazard communication package.

Building the Label from the Safety Data Sheet

A compliant label comes straight from the manufacturer’s SDS. Section 2 of the SDS carries the hazard classification along with the signal word, pictograms, hazard statements, and precautionary statements. Section 3 lists composition and ingredient information, which you use to verify the product identifier and any chemical names required on the label.⁷

Pull each element from those two sections and map it onto the label. The label must match the SDS. If the SDS says “Danger,” the label says “Danger.” If the SDS lists two pictograms, the label shows those two, subject to the precedence rules above. Most facilities rely on labeling software that selects standard hazard phrases and pictograms from a database, which cuts down on transcription errors. Whatever printing method you use, the inks and adhesives need to withstand the chemical being stored; a label that dissolves on contact with its own container’s contents is worse than useless.⁸

Keeping Labels Legible and Current

A label that was compliant on day one does not stay that way on its own. Labels must remain legible for as long as the container is in use. Anything faded, smeared, peeled, or chemically damaged has to be replaced.

Labels also need updating when the underlying hazard information changes. If a manufacturer issues a revised SDS with new hazard statements or a different signal word, every container of that chemical in the facility needs a new label reflecting the current data. Routine audits of storage areas catch outdated or deteriorating labels before an inspector does.

Training Employees to Read the Labels

Compliant labels accomplish nothing if the people handling the containers cannot interpret them. OSHA requires employers to train workers on the hazards of chemicals in their work area, how to read labels and Safety Data Sheets, and what protective measures to take.¹

Training repeats. Employees need additional training whenever a new chemical hazard enters their work area or when existing hazard information changes. Under the 2024 update, the retraining deadlines are November 20, 2026 for substances and May 19, 2028 for mixtures. Training has to be specific enough that workers understand each pictogram, know how to find and use an SDS, and can act on the precautionary statements.

The 2024 Update and Compliance Deadlines

OSHA published a final rule on May 20, 2024, updating the Hazard Communication Standard to align with the seventh revision of the GHS. The rule adds new hazard classes, changes how some chemicals are categorized, introduces the small-container provisions, and revises precautionary statement requirements. Label preparers may also use the precautionary statements from GHS Revision 8 as an alternative to the Revision 7 versions.⁵

Compliance is staggered:

January 19, 2026: manufacturers, importers, and distributors must update labels and SDSs for substances.
July 19, 2026: employers must update workplace labels, hazard communication programs, and employee training for substances.
July 19, 2027: manufacturers, importers, and distributors must update labels and SDSs for mixtures.
January 19, 2028: employers must update workplace labels, programs, and training for mixtures.

Facilities that handle both substances and mixtures are effectively managing a rolling transition through early 2028.⁹

Penalties for Labeling Violations

Hazard Communication ranked as the second most frequently cited federal OSHA standard in fiscal year 2024, so inspectors are actively looking at labels, SDSs, and training records.¹⁰

Under the 2026 inflation adjustment, a serious violation carries a maximum penalty of $16,550 per violation. Willful or repeat violations rise to $165,514 per violation. Each container missing a required label element can count as a separate violation, so a stockroom full of unlabeled secondary containers can add up quickly.¹¹

The most common labeling citations involve missing or incomplete labels on secondary containers, outdated labels that no longer match the current SDS, and failure to train workers on how to read the labels in their area. Periodic self-audits of storage areas and training records catch these problems before an inspector does.

1
eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.1200 – Hazard Communication
2
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Hazard Communication Standard Pictogram Quick Card
3
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Hazard Communication – Appendix C
4
eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.1200 – Hazard Communication – Appendix C
5
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Hazard Communication Standard Final Rule
6
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Hazard Communication and Consumer Products
7
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Hazard Communication Standard: Safety Data Sheets
8
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Laboratory Safety Labeling and Transfer of Chemicals
9
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Final Rule Modifying the HCS to Maintain Alignment With the GHS
10
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards
11
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 2026 Annual Adjustments to OSHA Civil Penalties