The criteria of the regulation are intended to identify hazardous chemicals and inform their users of the respective hazards with the help of standard symbols and phrases on the labelling and in the safety data sheets. Special packaging requirements are also imposed for certain hazardous substances and mixtures.
CLP provides for so-called hazard classes that describe the type of hazard. The regulation includes 17 hazard classes (as of October 2020) for physical properties (such as ‘explosive’ or ‘corrosive to metals’), ten for human health (such as ‘acutely toxic’ or ‘carcinogenic’) and one for the environment (‘hazardous to the aquatic environment’). Other hazards include the class ‘ozone layer damaging’. Depending on the hazard potential, the hazard classes are divided into hazard categories to which certain labelling elements, e.g. hazard pictograms and hazard and safety statements (H-phrases and P-phrases), are assigned. Depending on the hazard category, certain symbols (pictograms), signal words (e.g. ‘Danger’, ‘Warning’) and hazard and safety information apply. CLP pictograms have a white background with a red border and are shaped like a square standing on its tip. Such pictograms can be found, for example, in the safety data sheets of the individual substances.