Chemical-resistant stock · 4 per Legal 8½ × 14 in
4 × 6 inch GHS label template
The default size for drums and IBCs, and the standard face size for thermal-transfer roll printers — 101.6 × 152.4 mm. If a site prints its own chemical labels on a Zebra or similar, this is almost certainly the roll it is loaded with.
Build it
Label builder, preset to 4 × 6 in
Size and sheet layout arrive already set. Change the jurisdiction or the size inside the tool at any point — the label is rebuilt against whatever is selected.
01 · The format
What this size is for
The default size for drums and IBCs, and the standard face size for thermal-transfer roll printers — 101.6 × 152.4 mm. If a site prints its own chemical labels on a Zebra or similar, this is almost certainly the roll it is loaded with.
It is also the smallest format that comfortably holds a full CLP supplier label with four pictograms, six precautionary statements and a bilingual second column. Above 500 litres CLP requires at least 148 × 210 mm, so an IBC crosses out of this size.
02 · Where it qualifies
Against the CLP size tiers
CLP Annex I Table 1.3 is the only legally binding table tying label size to container capacity. It applies in the European Union and, word for word, in Great Britain. OSHA and WHMIS set no numeric minimum at all, so this table is guidance rather than a requirement in those two.
| Container | Table 1.3 label size | Pictogram side | This format |
|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 3 L | 52 × 74 mm — if possible | 16 mm | qualifies |
| > 3–50 L | 74 × 105 mm | 23 mm | qualifies |
| > 50–500 L | 105 × 148 mm | 32.2 mm | — |
| > 500 L | 148 × 210 mm | 46 mm | — |
Read the two wordings apart: for packages over 3 litres Table 1.3 says “at least”, and the format qualifies only when both dimensions are met — in either orientation, since the table gives a pair of dimensions and never says which one is the width. For packages not exceeding 3 litres it says “if possible, at least 52 × 74”, which is a target rather than a minimum; a 4 × 2 in label is 1.2 mm under on the short side while carrying half again the area, so it is marked “~ enough area” — our assessment, not a compliance statement. Table 1.3 says nothing about label area at all. The pictogram column does combine two real rules: the side from Table 1.3 and the “at least one fifteenth of the minimum label area, never below 1 cm²” requirement of Annex I §1.2.1, whichever is larger.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is 4 × 6 a standard drum label size?
Yes. It is the usual face size for 55-gallon drum labels and the standard thermal-transfer roll width, sold both as rolls and as sheets. On a Legal sheet it comes four to a page.
Does 4 × 6 satisfy CLP for a 200-litre drum?
Yes. A 200-litre drum falls in the 50–500 litre tier, which requires a label of at least 105 × 148 mm; 4 × 6 in is 101.6 × 152.4 mm, which exceeds that tier on area and on the long side. Check the pictogram side too — that tier requires 32 mm.
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