3 of the Best Label Printers for GHS Compliance Needs

All Canadian businesses involved in any way with the use of chemicals know the importance of the upcoming deadlines for full regulatory alignment between the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals and the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System devised by Health Canada and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. Also, if these companies are doing business elsewhere in North America, they’ll need to meet Occupational Health and Safety Administration standards as well.

New labels will be necessary for many products as well as important raw materials, and as a result so will label printers and related components that are capable of handling their production at a rapid, efficient clip with minuscule risk of any significant error. 

Commercial chemical users, distributors and manufacturers must abide by highly specific labeling regulations.

Let’s check out some of the noteworthy printers that can meet and exceed the requirements involved with harmonized GHS compliance needs:

Epson TM-C3500: The Reliable Standby

It can sometimes be easy to forget about – or underrate – flagship models of a particularly well-known printer or some similarly distinguished piece of equipment. But in more than a few cases, such models have become old standbys because they consistently work, even in a tech landscape that’s often so laser-focused on the brand new. The Epson TM-C3500 label printer certainly fits this bill, and it’s well-equipped for the task of producing GHS-compliant labels for products and internal machinery alike. 

This printer gets users’ main concern in this context – GHS compliance – right out of the way, meeting the appropriate BS5609 certification requirements for a machine of its purpose. But the advantages of this printer don’t stop there – not by a long shot. With its four-color inkjet printing and flexible range of label widths – from 1.2 inches to 4.4 inches – the Epson TM-C3500 handles all essential small-business label printing applications with considerable aplomb. To top everything off, this model is capable of printing at as much as 4 inches per second and comes equipped with both USB and Ethernet interfaces. 

Heavy-Duty Production from the NeuraLabel 300x

A printer like the TM-C3500 (as well as all of the accessories and label software involved) will serve the needs of the average small business quite well. But for operations that are somewhat larger, the small printer’s level of performance just won’t quite be enough. But don’t fret, as there are a number of other printers that will be up to the task of handling larger and more urgent label-production needs. 

The NeuraLabel 300x boasts high-speed operating capabilities that make it a must for various small- and medium-sized business applications. These features include printing labels in full color at 100 feet per minute, a wide range of print widths – between 1.5 and 8.5 inches wide – compatibility with all of the common enterprise level operating systems (OS X and beyond to Linux and Windows 8) and print resolution as high as 2,400 dpi. Last but not least, it’s fully BS5609-compliant and covered by a 1-year warranty that includes web-based, phone and in-person support in case of any troubleshooting needs that happen to arise. 

If It Isn’t Broken, Don’t Fix It: The Epson GP-C831

In many instances, size doesn’t specifically matter, but in a few, it most definitely does. The need for large-format, GHS-compliant labels is certainly one of those situations. As capable as the aforementioned printers might be for many general labeling needs, they will not be appropriate for producing the required compliance notices for large containment vessels such as oil drums and similar cargo containers.

That’s where a model like the Epson GP-C381 color inkjet label printer will come in handy, and yet another example of Epson’s quality contributions to the label-printing market. It’s more than capable of handling all large-format chemical labels to meet GHS, WHMIS, OSHA and all other applicable standards. By using an industrial-strength tractor feeder to draw paper into the main body of the printer, the GP-C381 can operate at speeds as high as 16.5 pages per minute. Additionally, it can handle a wide variety of different label sizes, maxing out at 8.0 inches by 22 inches – the sort of versatility that’s hard to beat.

DuraFast Label Company offers all three of the models detailed above and much more at our U.S. sales website as well as our Canadian store.