GHS Hazard Pictogram

GHS01 — Exploding Bomb Pictogram

Also called the exploding bomb symbol. Signal word: Danger or Warning.

Explosives

Use in Label Maker → All 9 pictograms → Browse all substances

What does GHS01 mean?

The exploding bomb pictogram indicates explosive substances, mixtures, and articles, including self-reactive substances and organic peroxides. These materials release energy rapidly when subjected to shock, heat, or friction.

Straight answers

What does the exploding bomb pictogram indicate?

Explosives, plus the two families that behave like them: self-reactive substances of types A and B, and organic peroxides of types A and B. 3 CLP hazard classes lead to this pictogram and it carries 7 hazard statements.

Do all explosives carry GHS01?

No, and this is the detail most charts get wrong. CLP Table 2.1.2 gives the pictogram to unstable explosives and to divisions 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. Division 1.5 — may mass explode in fire — carries the signal word Danger and H205 but no pictogram at all, and division 1.6 carries no pictogram, no signal word and no hazard statement.

Which signal word goes with the exploding bomb?

Danger for unstable explosives and for divisions 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3. Division 1.4, a fire or projection hazard, takes Warning. That single exception is the only reason this pictogram appears with both words.

Does GHS01 replace the flame pictogram?

Under Article 26(1)(a) it makes GHS02 and GHS03 optional, unless more than one of them is compulsory. In the harmonised list only 2 of the 39 entries carrying GHS01 also carry GHS02.

How many chemicals carry GHS01?

39 substances with a harmonised classification in CLP Annex VI — the rarest of the nine, alongside GHS03.

Every number here is computed from CLP Annex VI at build time. See all nine pictograms compared.

Which hazard classes require GHS01?

GHS01 is assigned by 3 hazard classes across 9 categories under CLP and UN GHS. The signal word is set by the category, not by the pictogram — which is why the same pictogram can carry both Danger and Warning. The full wording of every code is listed under Associated H-statements below.

Hazard class	Ch.	Category	Signal word	H-code
Explosives	2.1	1.1	Danger	H201
Explosives	2.1	1.2	Danger	H202
Explosives	2.1	1.3	Danger	H203
Explosives	2.1	1.4	Warning	H204
Explosives	2.1	Unstable explosive	Danger	H200
Self-reactive substances and mixtures	2.8	Type A	Danger	H240
Self-reactive substances and mixtures	2.8	Type B	Danger	H241
Organic peroxides	2.15	Type A	Danger	H240
Organic peroxides	2.15	Type B	Danger	H241

Interactive tool

Explosive screening (waiver check)

Explosives are classified only by UN testing — this is the GHS screening (waiver) step.

Contains explosophoric groups (nitro, nitrate, azide, peroxide, etc.)

Exothermic decomposition energy (DSC)

Associated H-statements (7)

H200 Unstable explosives. H201 Explosive; mass explosion hazard. H202 Explosive, severe projection hazard. H203 Explosive; fire, blast or projection hazard. H204 Fire or projection hazard. H240 Heating may cause an explosion. H241 Heating may cause a fire or explosion.

Each code opens its own page: the verbatim CLP wording, its status under EU CLP, OSHA HazCom and UN GHS, and every harmonised substance that carries it. See also the full list of hazard statements and the precautionary statements.

Which pictograms appear next to GHS01

A label rarely carries one diamond. Counted across the 39 harmonised substances that carry GHS01 — before the Article 26 precedence rules remove anything.

GHS08 Health Hazard 22 · 56.4%

GHS09 Environmental Hazard 22 · 56.4%

GHS07 Exclamation Mark 15 · 38.5%

GHS06 Skull and Crossbones 13 · 33.3%

GHS05 Corrosion 5 · 12.8%

GHS02 Flame 2 · 5.1%

The surprise here is what is missing: the exploding bomb pairs with the health hazard and the environment far more often than with the flame. An explosive is more likely to be a carcinogen than to be classified as flammable.

When GHS01 changes what else is shown

Article 26 of CLP cuts the number of diamonds on a label. One of its five rules touches GHS01.

Article 26(1)(a)

If GHS01 applies, the use of GHS02 and GHS03 becomes optional — unless more than one of them is compulsory.

The bomb almost always travels alone: only 2 of the 39 harmonised entries carrying GHS01 also carry GHS02, and none carries GHS03.

Nothing in Article 26 makes GHS01 optional in the other direction unless a rule above says so. All five precedence rules, with the number of substances each one affects.

Storage & handling requirements

Store only in approved explosive magazines. Segregate from all ignition sources, heat, open flame, and friction. Access restricted to authorised personnel. Quantities must be minimised. Earthing and bonding required during transfer.

Regulatory context (CLP / OSHA / REACH)

Under CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, GHS01 applies to explosive substances in Division 1.1–1.6. EU Directive 2014/28/EU governs commercial explosives. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.109 covers storage and handling in the USA.

Transport marking: GHS vs ADR/DOT

ADR/RID Class 1 — Explosive substances. UN placards use an orange rectangle with black flame/explosion symbol. Transport requires specialised vehicles and trained drivers under ADR regulations.

Printing GHS01 on a label

A square set at a point — a diamond — with the black symbol on a white background and a red frame wide enough to be clearly visible. An all-black frame is a transport label, not a CLP pictogram. Size is set twice over: each pictogram must cover at least one fifteenth of the minimum label area required by Article 17, and must never be smaller than 1 cm². On a package of 3 litres or less that works out to 10 × 10 mm as the floor, and 16 × 16 mm where it fits.

Source: Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, Annex I, 1.2.1.1–1.2.1.4 and Table 1.3 — the full table for all four package sizes. Building an actual label? The label constructor lays it out at the right proportions.

GHS01 — Exploding Bomb

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Substances classified with GHS01

Showing 24 of 39 substances in our database with this pictogram. View all →

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SDS Manager

A pictogram is an outcome, not a choice: the classification decides which ones appear, Article 26 decides which of them drop out, and the same set then has to stand on the label and in section 2 of the safety data sheet for every product and every language. For doing that once and reissuing when a classification changes, the solution we recommend is SDS Manager (ExactSDS). It also offers SDS management and a broader EHS suite.

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