Safer naming, labelling and packaging of medicines
Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm. We have resources and guidance to help health professionals improve the safety of medicine naming, labelling, storage and packaging.
Medicines are the most common intervention in healthcare and while they commonly contribute to improvements in health outcomes, they can also cause serious harm if not managed correctly.
We have best practice guidance and resources to support safety in:
Safer medicine labelling
Labels for medicines are vital for communicating medicine use and medicine related information to consumers.
The content and quality of label information affect how well a consumer understands the information and will impact their ability to take their medicines safely and effectively.
Labelling standard for dispensed medicines
The National Standard for Labelling Dispensed Medicines provides guidance on what information to include on the label, where it should be placed on the label, and how it should be formatted.
The Standard is for all health professionals who dispense medicines, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurse practitioners, general practitioners, optometrists and dentists.
Labelling standard for injectable medicines, fluids and lines
Injectable medicines are a high-risk therapy for patients and health professionals.
The National Standard for User-applied Labelling of Injectable Medicines, Fluids and Lines provides guidance to safely identify the contents of injectable medicines, route of administration and intended patient.
It also sets out the requirements for label format, content and placement.
The Standard applies to all clinical areas where injectable medicines and fluids are administered.
Approved labels for injectable medicines, fluids and lines
We have print-ready labels for health professionals to safely identify the contents of containers and lines used for, and with, injectable medicines and fluids.
Container labels
Line and catheter labels
Line and catheter labels
- IntraVENOUS Line and catheter label
- CENTRAL VENOUS Line and catheter label
- Subcutaneous Line and catheter label
- EPIDURAL Line and catheter label
- IntraTHECAL Line and catheter label
- REGIONAL Line and catheter label
- Intra-ARTERIAL Line and catheter label
- Miscellaneous Line and catheter label
- Enteral Line and catheter label
- Catheter Line and catheter label
A4 label education posters
These posters support the Labelling standard for injectable medicines, fluids and lines and can be tailored to suit local requirements.
Safer medicine naming and terminology
Medicines can easily be mistaken for one another, especially if they look or sound the same or when using abbreviations and ‘error-prone’ terminologies.
Our Recommendations for safe use of medicines terminology and fact sheet provides best practice principles for safe, clear and consistent terminology, acceptable terms and dose designations for medicines and standardised abbreviations where full expression is not possible.
Our National guidelines for on-screen display of medicines information describes consistent terms and processes for on-screen display of medicines. These guidelines are intended for those developing, assessing, procuring and implementing technologies for medication management and electronic prescribing.
Mixed-case lettering for medicines
Mixed-case lettering or Tall Man lettering is a typographic technique that uses selective capitalisation to make similar looking medicine names more easily distinguishable.
For example: oBINUTUZumab and oFATUMumab or proGRAF and proZAC.
Mixed-case lettering should be used in:
- electronic medication management systems
- printed labels for inpatient dispensing, shelving in pharmacies, and ward medicines storage cupboards
- drug libraries for smart infusion pumps
- automated medicines storage and distribution systems.
The National Mixed-Case Lettering List shows medicines which look-alike and sound-alike in pairs or groups with a combination of lower-case and upper-case letters to highlight the difference.
Our Mixed-case lettering: Principles for application fact sheet supports health professionals in achieving mixed-case lettering, as a risk-reductions strategy.
Health professionals are encouraged to report any adverse incidents or near-misses related to look-alike sound-alike medicine names, to our Medicines Safety and Quality team who will review and consider if additions to the National Mixed-Case Lettering list are warranted.
Search tool for look-alike and sound-alike medicines
The Look-alike Sound-alike (LASA) Search Tool is a semi-automated software program which identifies medicine names that look-alike and sound-alike across both active ingredient medicines and medicine brand names.
The LASA Search tool may be used to:
- provide alerts for potential risks when storing and selecting medicines
- provide alerts for potential risks in medicine name similarity
- assist the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and/or pharmaceutical manufacturers to assess medicine brand names prior to medicines registration on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG); helping prevent generation of confusing medicine name pairs.
Our instructions for use help health professionals navigate the LASA search tool.
Safe selection and storage of medicines
Selection errors can occur when medicines have similar sounding names, labelling and packaging.
Our Principles and strategies for the safe selection and storage of medicines provide risk-reduction strategies in medicine selection and storage including how to label, categorise and organise medicines.
Our survey tool assists health professionals assess their medication safety and storage practices and identify opportunities for implementing risk-reduction strategies.