Signal word

Either Danger or Warning, the GHS indicator of relative hazard severity.

GHS uses exactly two signal words. Danger indicates the more severe hazard categories, Warning the less severe. A label carries only one, the most severe that applies.

Some hazard categories carry no signal word at all, where the hazard is judged not to warrant one.

The signal word appears in Section 2 of the safety data sheet and on the product label.

Related terms

• GHSThe UN system that standardises how chemical hazards are classified, labelled and described on safety data sheets.
• Hazard classThe nature of a chemical hazard under GHS: flammable liquid, skin corrosion, carcinogenicity and so on.
• SDS Section 2Hazard identification: the GHS classification, signal word, hazard statements and pictograms.
• Hazard statementStandard phrasing describing the nature of a hazard, such as "Causes serious eye damage".

A plain-English explanation, not legal advice. Figures are the federal baseline; your state may differ, so see the state-by-state requirements.