Many labels for chemical drum containers are printed on wide format digital printers, due to their oversize capabilities and shorter runs. At Chittagong, Bangladesh 3 days ago, mislabeled Hydrogen Peroxide was doused with water when a container depot caught fire. This caused a further explosion and loss of life - foam should have been used, but firefighters, nine of whom are still missing, were misled by the labels (from BBC/AFP report)
 |
| A scene from the Chittagong, Bangladesh container depot fire - chemical labels were allegedly incorrect (Reuters pic) |
Bangladeshi officials have accused the operator of a container depot of exacerbating a deadly blaze by not storing and labeling chemicals safely. Nine firefighters were among more than 40 people killed after fire broke out near the port city of Chittagong. Many more are still missing.
Officials said containers of hydrogen peroxide were labelled incorrectly - and firefighters doused flames with water instead of foam. Purnachandra Mutsuddi, an assistant director with the local firefighting service, told the AFP news agency that as soon as the firefighters entered the depot on Saturday they unwittingly doused the hydrogen peroxide with water, setting off an explosive reaction that sent "a container flying more than 500 feet".
"There are some rules to keep hydrogen peroxide. Had we known this, we would never throw water. We would never take our vehicle inside the depot," he said.
Hydrogen Peroxide is not in itself flammable, but it can intensify an existing fire if the oxygen it contains is released. In high concentrations it is actually used as a rocket fuel propellant. Water will react with H2O2 and release more oxygen.
It is believed the fire is still burning but under control and an investigation into as to the cause and acceleration of the tragedy is underway.
Legislation regarding hazardous materials labeling
In Australia, there are strict rules on the correct identification of hazardous chemicals and new global ones come into force at the end of 2022. Australia
 |
| Ready-made labels available from Sefton |
started a transition from the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) 3 to GHS 7 on 1 January 2021. This affected all businesses that manufacture, import, supply or use hazardous chemicals. The transition period will end on 31 December 2022, and from 1 January 2023, only GHS 7 may be used to classify and label chemicals in Australia. More information is available on the Transition to GHS 7 link.
In a nutshell, hazardous chemical labels must be:
- Made from durable, industrial grade materials
- Chemical, water, fade and smear resistant
- Use strong adhesives that do not peel of easily
- Contain detailed information of contents in English
- Contain name of manufacturer/importer and contact details
- Use internationally recognised pictograms characterising the hazards and contents
This tends to indicate that lamination with UV and chemical resistant film is desireable in some cases. Such extra-strength laminates are often used in marine and truck graphical applications since salt and truck wash chemicals are often in contact with them.
Hazardous chemical labels and warnings are also available from specialist suppliers such as Seton.
This terrible tragedy in Bangladesh is perhaps an opportunity to review your hazardous materials labelling and check if the design and manufacture complies with the new GHS 7 regulations. Lives could be at stake.
With ackowledgements to BBC, Reuters and AFP
