Transporting Chemicals from the UK? Make sure you are BS5609 Compliant!

Are your drum labels not adhering correctly? Are the colours fading when exposed to direct sunlight? It is very likely that the label materials you are using are not BS5609 approved. What is BS5609?

When exporting hazardous chemical goods from the UK using overseas transport, they must be marked with labels designed for long term durability and performance in harsh environments. To ensure labels meet these requirements they are tested against the British Standard regulations BS5609 which is a specification for printed pressure-sensitive, adhesive coated labels for marine use which includes requirements for the label base material.

How it works?

The International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG), which must be adhered to when shipping hazardous goods overseas, specifies BS5609 performance criteria. The testing is divided into 4 parts, of which there are 2 key sections, section 2 (standards for the base label) and section 3 (performance requirements for the printed image on qualified label material).


To explain further, Pira International Ltd, a research association who specialise in testing adhesives/labels, recently performed testing on printed self-adhesive labels to BS5609 specifically for section 3. The report states that 1 set of Fasson Speciality PE laser Matt White/E400/HF80 labels printed from a Triumph Adler CLP 4626 printer were tested against the following performance requirements:

• Print key effectiveness - Measure the resistance of removal of the print by adhesive tape* 
• Abrasion resistance - Measure the abrasion resistance of the print after exposure to sea water/sand abrasion** 
• Permanence of print - Measure the resistance to change after exposure to salt spray/accelerated light cycles** 

The full report contains results for the individual colours within the label but overall (as seen below) the label passed all parts of BS5609 section 3.

Test	Greyscale Rating	Observations	Pass/Fail
Print key effectiveness	5	No ink removal	Pass
Abrasion resistance	4	Some print removal	Pass
Permanence of print	4	Slight change	Pass

- Carnegie, Pira consultancy report – testing labels to BS5609, section 3, 12 July 2010

Give us your thoughts?

Were you aware of BS5609? Are your labels adhering to these requirements? Please share your experiences here.


* No more than 5% of ink should be removed from the printed area in each colour, any changes should be no greater than grade 3 British standard greyscale and any legends/symbols should remain identifiable.
**Colour should remain recognisable, any changes should be no greater than grade 2 of British Standard greyscale and any legends/symbols should remain identifiable.

There’s More to Labels than Meets the Eye: the GHS Standards for Durability

When you think about labels for pharmaceuticals, chemicals and medical devices, you think about the contents of the label for identification and tracking purposes and the regulations surrounding them.  But there’s more to labels than the words and symbols that appear on them.   Manufacturers must also consider the label’s durability in extreme conditions.  A label that becomes unreadable or falls off when it’s wet or exposed to severe temperatures could cause serious problems – especially if that label includes warning information regarding a hazardous chemical.

To address this, the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) has put standards in place regarding the durability of labels under certain conditions.

What is GHS?

The goal of GHS is to create a single way to define and classify chemical hazards on product labels and chemical Safety Data Sheets (SDS). With standardized label content such as standardized chemical classifications, standardized hazard statements, standardized signal words, and standardized graphic symbols and colors - producers, workers, and consumers in every country can understand the potential human health hazards posed by chemicals. GHS has been adopted in Europe and is in the process of adoption in the United States, Canada, and many other industrialized nations.

What you need to know

In order for labels to be compliant with GHS, labels must be chemical-resistant, abrasion-resistant, UV light resistant, weather-resistant, and must utilize a marine-grade label adhesive.  

Before certain products can be transported over the ocean, GHS standards require that they meet the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG) certification standard in order to prevent marine-pollution  caused by the damage or loss of a chemical transport container at sea. To preserve the label, IMDG and GHS standards require that labels meet British Standard BS 5609 to ensure printed label materials can sustain three months of saltwater submersion without fading and maintain adhesion to the container.

What do you think?

Were you aware of the standards around durability?  How are you working to meet these standards?  Do you think enough is being done?

Please share your thoughts here.

National Audit Office puts its weight behind GS1 standards in NHS*

The National Audit Office (NAO) has made an explicit recommendation that the Department of Health (DoH) should call for the adoption of universal bar coding standards in the NHS.

The report entitled, ‘The procurement of consumables by NHS acute and Foundation trusts’ stated, “Price comparisons within and across trusts are difficult because of the lack of a standard coding system for products purchased. As proposed in its strategy, the Department should require the NHS to adopt standard product bar-coding, to improve procurement data and enable price comparisons.”

The role of the NAO is to scrutinize public spending on behalf of the UK Parliament - a role it carries out independently of the UK Government. In 2009-10, the NAO’s work lead to savings and efficiency gains of £890 million.

The NAO report also states, “The procurement of medical and other supplies (‘consumables’) by NHS hospitals is essential to the quality of patient care and successful treatment outcomes. At a time when the NHS is required to deliver £15-20 billion of annual savings by 2014-15, it is a key area of expenditure for review, both by trusts themselves and at regional and national levels, to ensure that better value for money can be secured for the taxpayer.”

The standardization of product bar coding across the NHS, using the GS1 coding system, is the top aim in the Department’s procurement strategy for the NHS. Under the QIPP (Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention) programme, the DH hopes to save £1.2 billion per annum on the £17 billion expenditure by NHS providers on non-pay goods and services (supplies and facilities management) and £1.27 billion a year from the Innovative Technology Adoption Procurement Programme (iTAPP) by 2014-15.

PRISYM ID is an accredited partner of GS1 UK delivering their global standards.

*Article published by GS1 UK

Choosing Your Method: RFID vs. Barcodes

At the heart of tracking pharmaceuticals, clinical trials and medical devices is the debate about whether to use barcodes or RFID tags.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and there really isn't a clear winner. It’s a matter of understanding your circumstances and knowing which method will deliver the best results for your organization.


Consider How You Will Use Them


Different technologies are better suited to certain applications.  Because barcodes require a direct line of sight, they work better when the view of the barcode is not hindered in any way.  For example, barcodes are used in hospitals in the US on patient wristbands and diagnostic equipment.  These can be challenging locations for a barcode scanner.  RFID tags, on the other hand, can be implanted in patients and attached to costly equipment and can be read from anywhere inside the hospital.


Which Way is More Efficient?


RFID can read over 100 tags at a time, whereas scanning barcodes is a much more manual procedure, requiring them to be scanned one at a time. 


Is One More Accurate Than the Other?


Both RFID and barcoding is as good as the information in the tag or the barcode.  Both have the possibility of human error in data entry. Information can also be affected by faulty system design, duplicate reads, skipped reads and other factors.


Which Holds More Information?


One of RFID's strengths is that a tag holds more data than a barcode does. In turn, additional information can be written to the tag as it passes through the supply chain. However, 2D barcodes capture more information in a smaller space than traditional barcodes.


Is One More Secure than the Other?  


Privacy is an important issue in the life sciences industry.  A printed bar code label doesn’t reveal much information to an outsider; passive and active RFID tags reveal a lot more.  However, when it comes to counterfeiting, RFID tends to be a more secure option.  RFID tags are difficult to replicate and data can be encrypted, password protected, or permanently deleted, so information stored is much more secure. Barcodes are much easier to reproduce than RFID tags.


Cost


One of the hindrances of RFID technology has been the cost.  Barcode technology is much cheaper to implement and maintain than RFID technology. Tracking for pharmaceuticals, medical devices and clinical trials is an important part of FDA compliance, so it’s important to choose the system that works best for your organization.


For more information on this topic, visit www.prisymid.com.

The use of colour for in-house medicine labelling

The National Patient Safety Association (NPSA) has stated that clear labelling and identification of pharmacy products and hospital patients is crucial for the safe treatment of UK citizens. Whether warnings on packages, colour codes on components, or colour indications in patient files - colour communicates vital information.  Its use enables intuitive response, thereby supporting optimisation of work processes and error avoidance.

However the biggest problem up until now has been cost as colour has always been seen as an expensive way to print. Having been asked by many customers on the best way to move forward, PRISYM went to the market to find a cost effective, reliable solution.

The Epson TM-C3400 colour label printer makes the creation of such descriptive labels easy for everyone. This fast all-rounder reliably prints a wide range of materials, formats and surfaces at a low running cost. The special ink guarantees high durability and smudge proof labels.

The Benefits

The Epson TM-C3400 constitutes an “in-house print shop”. It’s reliable, extremely easy to operate and economical, it also offers:

• Durable, smudge proof colour prints thanks to durable pigment ink
• A single desktop system is all it takes to print up to 1,000 colour labels per hour
• Uses Epson Piezo® print technology
• Large media selection: Pre cut labels, wristband, tickets, continuous paper and continuous labels
• Media with widths from 30 to 112 mm (fan-fold)
• Interface: USB 2.0 or Ethernet 802.3
• Bi-directional printing paper feeding from inserted roll or rear (fan-fold)

The Joint Offering

PRISYM ID offers the healthcare sector a complete solution, combining the benefits of the TM-C3400 with PRISYM ID’s Pharmacy software. The partnership enables hospitals and pharmacies an affordable solution to on-demand, full colour pharmacy label printing and patient identification.

PRISYM Pharmacy software is a purpose designed labelling solution for healthcare organisations, specifically developed to help you meet current compliance requirements. PRISYM Pharmacy is supplied with life-cycle documentation based on the GAMP V Model.

PRISYM Pharmacy allows you to design, review, approve, print, reprint and reconcile your labels with the peace of mind that it has purpose built user security, group security and secure audit logging as well as data integrity. It can also simply link to ERP and MRP systems to ensure that information from production can be delivered to the label at time of print.

Are you looking to move to colour labelling within your department? What do you perceive to be the benefits or issues?