The National Fire Association (NFPA) has developed a color-coded number system called NFPA 704. The system uses a color-coded diamond with four quadrants in which numbers are used in the upper three quadrants to signal the
degree of health hazard
(blue), flammability hazard (red), and reactivity hazard (yellow).
What does the number 4 in the blue diamond mean?
The numbers superimposed over the colors rank the severity or danger, ranging from one to four, with four being the highest rating. The blue indicates potential health effects. A four in the blue means
severe and immediate health effects, including death
, and a one time exposure can cause lasting health problems.
What do the colors on the NFPA mean?
The four bars are color coded, using the modern color bar symbols with blue indicating the level of health hazard, red for flammability, orange for a physical hazard, and
white for Personal Protection
. The number ratings range from 0-4.
What does it mean when the number 4 is written in the blue diamond on the National Fire Protection Association NFPA label?
4-
Very flammable gases or very volatile flammable liquids
.
The yellow diamond, appearing at the right side of the label, conveys Reactivity (or Stability) information.
What are the colors on a chemical hazard label?
Many container labels will have diamond or a box that is divided into color coded sections:
Health (blue), Flammability (Red)
, Reactivity (Yellow) and Other or Corrosive (white).
What do NFPA 704 symbols tell you?
The NFPA 704 standard is widely used and recognized by fire and emergency responders and safety personnel for
identifying the hazards of short term/acute exposure to materials under conditions of fire, spill
, or similar emergencies.
What is the symbol for corrosive?
Exclamation Mark
: An immediate skin, eye or respiratory tract irritant, or narcotic. Gas Cylinder: Gases stored under pressure, such as ammonia or liquid nitrogen. Corrosion: Materials causing skin corrosion/burns or eye damage on contact, or that are corrosive to metals.
What should the employee infer from the number 4 in the Blue Diamond?
4-
Can cause death or major injury despite medical treatment
. Flashpoints: 0-Will not burn.
What does a 4 in flammability mean?
Level 4 –
Materials that completely vaporize at normal pressure and temperature and burn readily
. ◆ Level 3 – Liquids and solids that can be ignited under the most ambient conditions. ◆ Level 2 – Materials that must be moderately heated before ignition can occur.
Which number on an NFPA 704 label indicates the most severe hazard?
Number System: NFPA Rating and OSHA’s Classification System 0-4 0-least hazardous 4-most hazardous
1-4 1
-most severe hazard 4-least severe hazard • The Hazard category numbers are NOT required to be on labels but are required on SDSs in Section 2.
What do the numbers mean on a fire diamond?
The system uses a color-coded diamond with four quadrants in which numbers are used in the upper three quadrants to signal the degree of health hazard (blue),
flammability hazard
(red), and reactivity hazard (yellow). The bottom quadrant is used to indicate special hazards.
Do SDS sheets have to be in color?
Single-color pictograms are only allowed on safety data sheets and workplace
(in-house) labelling. OSHA encourages you to look at all of your potential options when assessing your options in updating your labels such as tags, pull-out labels, or fold-back labels.
What does NFPA mean?
The
National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) is a global self-funded nonprofit organization, established in 1896, devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards.
How do you read a chemical warning label?
On every NFPA label, there should be a
number from zero to four inside the blue, red and yellow areas
. The numbers indicate the degree of a particular hazard. The substance is a severe health risk if the substance is not handled safely.
What is the safety color code?
| COLOR MEANING | Yellow Caution | Orange Warning | Green Safety | Blue Information |
|---|
What is the most serious number on a chemical hazard label?
2 = means moderate hazard.
3
= means serious hazard. 4 = means severe hazard.
