GHS Classification and BS5609 Compliance
The Globally Harmonized System of Classification (GHS) provides standardized criteria for classifying the health, physical, and environmental hazards associated with a substance. It also has specific requirements for labels that must be on all shipments of hazardous or dangerous materials, including those shipped by sea. The information that must be on GHS labels includes:
- GHS Hazard Pictograms
- Signal Words: Either Danger or Warning.
- Hazard Statements
- Precautionary Statements
- Product Identifier
- Supplier Identification and Contact Information
The GHS label provides sufficient information such that anyone, who finds a container that was lost from a ship, will know the contents are hazardous and be able to contact the appropriate organization for more information. In marine environments, BS5609 helps ensure that this hazard communication remains readable and attached over time. Without durable BS 5609 labels, a recovered container may have no usable identification, leaving contents unknown and increasing the risk of harm to people and the environment.
What Does BS5609 Compliance Testing Involve?
The BS5609 standard has three parts.
- Part 1: Provides an introduction to BS5609, definitions, and a description of the general requirements and responsibilities.
- Part 2: Provides the methods and requirements for testing the label's base material.
- Part 3: Provides the test methods and requirements for testing the printing on the label. The basic requirement is that the label survives at least three months immersed in seawater.
Part three testing must be done using the specific printer and ribbon that will be used for making labels and it must be done using a base material that has already passed the part two tests. Both tests must be passed successfully before a label can called BS5609 compliant.
BS5609: Part Two Compliance Testing
Part two testing is done using blank labeling material. This is the adhesive backed, pressure sensitive base material used for making labels. Testing involves accelerated artificial weathering tests (salt pray and sunlight), dimensional stability tests, and adhesion tests. If the material passes all of the tests, it is BS5609 Part Two compliant-but, it still may not be used for making labels.
When labels are printed there is an interaction between the base material and the ink used for printing. Some inks work better with some types of base materials than they do with others. Some ink and base material combinations are more durable than others under certain environmental conditions. That's why once a base material passes BS5609 Part Two testing, it moves on to Part Three testing.
BS5609: Part Three Compliance Testing
The basic requirement is that labels must be able to survive three months in salt water.
The labels to be tested are made by printing on a base material that has already passed the Part Two compliance testing. Both the label base material and printing must pass BS5609 tests involving exposure to salt water, sunlight, and abrasion. Some of these tests are conducted by putting labeled test blocks into the ocean, near the shore, for three months.
Since GHS labels include a red diamond as a part of the pictograms, some label base materials come with the red diamond pre-printed. In these cases, the BS5609 Part Three testing must be done on label base material that has the pre-printed red diamonds. All of the printing on the label must be subjected to the Part Three tests.
Passing BS5609 Part Three testing means that the specific printer used to print the label, the specific ink (ribbon) used for printing, and the specific base material, when used together, are BS5609 compliant. If a different printer or ribbon is used, the resulting label may not be compliant.
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