International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSC)

The International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSC) are data sheets that provide essential safety and health information in a clear and concise way. The main target users are workers and occupational safety and health professionals. The ICSC project is a joint effort of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), with the cooperation of the European Commission.

Currently, more than 1,700 ICSC are available in English, Chinese, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Translated ICSCs are also under development in German, Tamil, Thai and other languages. All cards and more information are available at the International Labour Organization ICSC with a multilingual search interface at www.ilo.org/dyn/icsc/showcard.home.

ICSC are drafted and peer reviewed by an international group of scientists from institutions concerned with occupational safety and health. The international peer review process ensures the authoritative nature of the Cards. ICSC have no legal status. The information provided on the Cards aligns with:

• C170- ILO Chemicals Convention, 1990
• R177-Chemicals Recommendation, 1990
• European Union Council Directive 98/24/EC
• United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals

NIOSH helped initiate the ICSC effort and continues to support ICSC development by participating actively in all scientific peer review meetings. ICSC participating institutions (PIs)

For questions about the ICSC, please contact the WHO technical secretariat: ipcsmail@who.int.