Hazard labels on outer shipping containers

November 9, 1990

Mr. John W. Boyan
Acting Director
General Services Administration,
Region 9
Western Distribution Center
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Boyan:

Thank you for your letter of October 24, regarding interpretation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) container labeling requirements under the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), 29 CFR 1910.1200(f).

Your letter presents the following interpretation which you received from Ms. Jennifer Miller of OSHA's Training Institute regarding this issue:

"[The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, does not regulate the outer shipping container of hazardous material. The hazard warning labeling requirement is only enforced and limited to the actual container holding the hazardous substance, i.e. bottle, tube, can, jar, etc.

There is no OSHA requirement for hazardous warning labels on the outer shipping container.]"

We concur with this interpretation but would like to stress that if the shipping container itself is the "actual container holding the hazardous substance" then it would have to be labeled in accordance with the requirements of the HCS. Further, section (f)(3) of the standard requires that:

"Chemical manufacturers, importers, or distributors shall ensure that each container of hazardous chemicals leaving the workplace is labeled, tagged, or marked in accordance with this section in a manner which does not conflict with the requirements of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act {U.S.C. 1801 et seq.} and regulations issued under the Act by the Department of Transportation."

If the shipping container is the actual container holding the hazardous chemical, it would have to be labeled in accordance with the HCS, but labeled in such a way that the "appropriate hazard warning" did not interfere with any DOT required shipping labels or container shipping information.

We hope this clarifies this issue for you. For your further reference, we are enclosing a copy of OSHA's recently revised compliance instruction, CPL 2-2.38C, "Inspection Procedures for the Hazard Communication Standard," (issued October 22, 1990). This document contains interpretative language and guidance on OSHA policies and procedures for compliance with the requirements of this performance-oriented standard. We hope this information is useful to you. Please feel free to contact us again if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,
Patricia K. Clark Director
Directorate of Compliance Programs

Enclosure

[Requester letter reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]