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Toolbox talk · 10 min · HazCom & Chemicals

SDS, Labels and Pictograms

Hazards: Chemical exposure from unlabeled or mislabeled containers · Wrong first aid or wrong PPE because nobody read the SDS · Incompatible storage and reactive mixing

Why it matters

Hazard Communication, 29 CFR 1910.1200, was the second most cited OSHA standard in fiscal year 2025 — ahead of ladders, lockout/tagout and scaffolds. Not because chemicals are exotic here, but because of the unlabeled sprayer and the binder nobody has opened since the job started. The label and the safety data sheet are where the answer lives when a product burns someone.

Key points

  • Six things belong on a shipped label. 1910.1200(f)(1): product identifier, signal word, hazard statements, pictograms, precautionary statements, and the manufacturer's name, U.S. address and phone.
  • Two signal words, never both. Danger is the more severe hazard, warning the less severe.
  • Learn the nine pictograms. Health hazard, flame, exclamation mark, gas cylinder, corrosion, exploding bomb, flame over circle, environment and skull and crossbones. Each appears only once on a label.
  • Know the two that get confused. Skull and crossbones is acute toxicity — fatal or toxic. The health hazard figure is the slow one: carcinogen, mutagen, reproductive and target organ toxicity.
  • Label what you pour, and never scrape a label off. (f)(6) wants the product identifier and general hazard information; (f)(8) exempts only a container you fill and use yourself right now; (f)(9) forbids defacing an incoming label.
  • Sixteen SDS sections, always the same order. That is the point of (g)(2). Four carry the field answers: Section 2 hazards, Section 4 first aid, Section 7 handling and storage, Section 8 exposure limits and PPE.
  • The sheets have to be reachable this shift. (g)(8) means readily accessible in the work area, paper or electronic, with no barrier — a login nobody has is a barrier.

Do / Don't

Do

  • Read the label before you open the container, every time.
  • Write the product name on any container you fill, the moment you fill it.
  • Pull up Section 8 and match your gloves and eye protection to it.
  • Check Section 7 before you store two products next to each other.

Don't

  • Don't use a water bottle or a coffee cup for a chemical, ever.
  • Don't mix products to make them work faster.
  • Don't guess a pictogram — the meaning is in Section 2.
  • Don't accept a delivery with a torn or unreadable label.

Quick site check

  • Walk the gang box and the conex: any container without a readable product identifier?
  • Pick one product and open its SDS in under two minutes. If you cannot, the access is not ready.
  • Are eyewash and washing facilities where Section 4 of the products in use says they need to be?
  • Are flammables and corrosives stored the way Section 7 asks?
Discussion — ask the crew
  1. Pick up the nearest container. Can you read a product identifier, a signal word and a pictogram on it right now?
  2. Where are the safety data sheets on this site, and who here has actually opened them?
  3. Which pictogram do you see most often on our products, and what does it mean?
  4. If our most-used chemical got splashed in someone's eyes, what does Section 4 say to do?
  5. What happens to the mixed sprayer and the unlabeled bucket at the end of the day?
Refs: 29 CFR 1910.1200 — Hazard Communication: labels (f), safety data sheets (g), training (h) · OSHA QuickCard 3491 — Hazard Communication Standard Pictogram · OSHA — Top 10 Most Cited Standards, FY2025 (1910.1200 ranked second)Sign-in sheet included in the printed version

Frequently asked questions

Six things, under 29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(1): the product identifier, a signal word, hazard statements, pictograms, precautionary statements, and the name, U.S. address and U.S. telephone number of the manufacturer, importer or other responsible party.

OSHA publishes nine on its pictogram QuickCard, and the standard designates eight of them for hazard categories under its jurisdiction. The Environment pictogram, for aquatic toxicity, is non-mandatory because that hazard is outside OSHA's authority.

Danger and warning, and only one appears on a label. 1910.1200(b) defines danger as the word for the more severe hazards and warning for the less severe.

Workplace containers need at least a product identifier plus words, pictures or symbols giving general hazard information, under 1910.1200(f)(6). The one exception in (f)(8) is a portable container filled from a labeled container for the immediate use of the person who filled it — that ends when they set it down or hand it off.

Sixteen, in a fixed order set by 1910.1200(g)(2), from Section 1 Identification through Section 16 Other information. OSHA notes it does not enforce the information requirements in Sections 12 through 15, which cover subjects outside its jurisdiction.

1910.1200(g)(8) requires copies in the workplace, readily accessible during each work shift while employees are in their work areas. Electronic access is allowed as long as it creates no barrier to immediate access. For crews moving between sites, (g)(9) allows the sheets at the primary facility if workers can immediately obtain the information in an emergency.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Results are estimates for planning purposes and do not replace a competent person's evaluation or an engineer's design. Follow the OSHA standards that apply to your work and your employer's written program.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated