How can you identify a hazardous substance?

We have mentioned before the importance of keeping your work employees away from substances that may be harmful to their health. We have also discussed how workers might come into contact with some of these substances, but we have rarely discussed how dangerous substances are marked so they can be identified as dangerous.

If a product is classified as dangerous, it will either have a European danger symbol or one of the new international symbols that have just replaced the European symbols.

Safety data sheet information

Some products are dangerous to supply. If this is the case they will have a label that contains at least one hazard symbol. These symbols are easily identifiable and you can even find them on everyday products such as bleach or solvents. If a product is dangerous to supply, the supplier of the product must provide the customer with a safety data sheet, however some of these can be difficult to understand.

The best place to look on the data sheet is part 15 which will tell you what the dangers are and parts 4 to 8 which tell you about the storage requirements and handling requirements necessary for the substance. If you haven’t already got the necessary storage containment devices such as an oil storage tank or a bunded diesel tank you can easily find a supplier online.