Hazard and Precautionary Statements

• Hazard Statements
• Precautionary Statements
• Pictograms and Hazard Codes

Hazard Statements

There are 72 individual and 17 combined Hazard statements - these are assigned a unique alphanumerical code which consists of one letter and three numbers as follows:  

• the letter "H" (for "hazard statement");
• a number designating the type of hazard as follows:
  • "2" for physical hazards
  • "3" for health hazards
  • "4" for environmental hazards
• two numbers corresponding to the sequential numbering of hazards arising from the intrinsic properties of the substance or mixture, such as explosive properties (codes from 200 to 210), flammability (codes from 220 to 230), etc.  

Precautionary Statements

There are 116 individual and 33 combined Precautionary statements – these are assigned a unique alphanumerical code which consists of one letter and three numbers as follows:

• the letter "P" (for "precautionary statement");
• one number designating the type of precautionary statement as follows: 
  • "1" for general precautionary statements
  • "2" for prevention precautionary statements
  • "3" for response precautionary statements
  • "4" for storage precautionary statements
  • "5" for disposal precautionary statements
• two numbers (corresponding to the sequential numbering of precautionary statements)

Pictograms and Hazard Codes

Compared to the current EU system the most noticeable change are the pictograms (formerly: hazard symbols). While the most of the GHS pictograms have an equivalent in the old system, the pictograms GHS 04, GHS 07 and GHS 08 are completely new.

The GHS System is built on 16 physical, 10 health and 3 environmental hazard classes and comprises the following communication elements: