What does a fire Diamond Mean on a building?
FIRE DIAMOND. People often notice a colored sign on a building called a fire diamond. Fire diamonds located on tanks and buildings indicate the level of chemical hazard located there. The four colors are blue, red, yellow, and white.
What do the numbers on a fire Diamond Mean?
Understanding the Fire Diamond. There are four colored sections on the diamond. Each section is labeled with a number from 0-4 to indicate the level of hazard. On this scale, 0 indicates "no hazard" while 4 means "severe hazard". The red section indicates flammability. The blue section indicates a health risk.
What does SA stand for in chemical hazards?
Simple asphyxiant gas (specifically helium, nitrogen, neon, argon, krypton, xenon ). The SA symbol shall also be used for liquefied carbon dioxide vapor withdrawal systems and where large quantities of dry ice are used in confined areas. These hazard codes are not part of the NFPA 704 standard, but are occasionally used in an unofficial manner.
What do the symbols on diamonds mean?
Instead, this diamond contains symbols that convey special precautions or hazards that exist. There are three symbols approved by the NFPA 704 system: W - The W symbol indicates that the chemical being labeled has a strong reaction to water.
What does the special hazard symbol SA represent?
Simple asphyxiant gas (specifically helium, nitrogen, neon, argon, krypton, xenon). The SA symbol shall also be used for liquefied carbon dioxide vapor withdrawal systems and where large quantities of dry ice are used in confined areas.
What is hazard SA?
A hazard is a situation in the workplace that has the potential to harm the health and safety of people or to damage plant and equipment.
How do you read a fire diamond?
The blue section of an NFPA Fire Diamond is used to assess a material's health hazard.0 = Normal material.1 = Slightly hazardous.2 = Hazardous.3 = Extreme danger.4 = Deadly.
What do the four areas of the fire diamond stand for?
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.
How do you read a hazard code?
How to Communicate Hazards: Hazard StatementsEach code begins with the Letter “H” for Hazard Statement.The first number designates the type of hazard the hazard statement is assigned. 2 = physical hazard. 3 = health hazard. 4 = environmental hazard.
What does the color white within a diamond mean?
The white indicates special precautions, usually used for oxy, or oxidizing agent. Fire Hazard - Red.
What does the color yellow indicate on a fire diamond?
The NFPA Fire Diamond symbol is the common identifier along with a rating number (from 0-4) inside of a colored field to indicate a hazard rating. For example: Diesel Fuel has an NFPA hazard rating of 0-2-0. 0 for Health (blue), 2 for Flammability (red), and 0 for Instability/Reactivity (yellow).
How do you read an SDS diamond?
The diamond is broken into four sections. Numbers in the three colored sections range from 0 (least severe hazard) to 4 (most severe hazard). The fourth (white) section is left blank and is used only to denote special fire fighting measures/hazards. NFPA signs and kits are available at Safety Emporium.
What does the number at the bottom of the diamond shaped hazard label indicate?
The blue diamond, appearing on the left side of the label, conveys Health Hazard information for persons exposed to the material. A number from 0 to 4 is written in the blue diamond. The higher the number the higher the hazard, as follows: 0-No hazard.
What does the code Oxy mean?
Figure 2-2, NFPA 704 System. The bottom quadrant is white, and contains information about any special hazards that may apply. There are three possible codes for the bottom quarter of the NFPA symbol: OXY means this material is an oxidizer. It can easily release oxygen to create or worsen a fire or explosion hazard.
What do fire symbols identify?
Fire symbols are used to identify the type of hazard at a particular building or location based on their shape.
What does a blue placard mean?
Blue represents goods that are dangerous when wet — meaning when these materials meet water, they can become flammable. Examples include sodium, calcium and potassium. You'll see dangerous when wet, an image of a flame and the number 4 on these placards.
What are the 5 types of hazards?
There are many types of hazards - chemical, ergonomic, physical, and psychosocial, to name a few - which can cause harm or adverse effects in the workplace. Get resources on specific hazards and their control, including identification, risk assessment and inspections, to keep your workplace healthy and safe.
What is Hazop in safety?
Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) is a systematic approach to determining potential problems that may be uncovered by reviewing the safety of designs and revisiting existing processes and operations in chemical, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, and nuclear industries.
What are examples of hazards?
Examples include industrial pollution, nuclear radiation, toxic wastes, dam failures, transport accidents, factory explosions, fires and chemical spills. Technological hazards also may arise directly as a result of the impacts of a natural hazard event.
What is hazards and risk?
A hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm while risk is the likelihood of harm taking place, based on exposure to that hazard. Download the printable PDF version here.
What does the number mean in a diamond?
Within the diamond is a number (with the exception of the white diamond). The number corresponds to the level of danger a chemical poses. The lower the number, the lower the hazard. The numbers range from zero to four, with zero representing no hazard at all, and four representing an extreme hazard.
Why is the diamond on the left side of the diamond?
The small diamond on the left side of the larger diamond has a blue background and is used to alert people to health hazards. Health hazards can include skin reactions, diseases such as cancer, respiratory issues, or any number of other health related issues. The higher the number, the more precautions someone should take when working with the chemical, and the more protective equipment needs to be used when dealing with an emergency.
What is the hazard diamond on NFPA 704?
The NFPA 704 label contains lots of information in a compact and easy-to-understand format, which is essential in emergency situations. The most recognizable part of the label is the hazard diamond, which is further broken up into four smaller diamonds.
What is the purpose of NFPA diamond labels?
NFPA diamond labels can be used on any type of chemical container to alert people to the specific hazards present.
What happens if a chemical barrel is marked with a flammability level above zero?
If a chemical barrel is marked with a flammability level above zero, emergency responders will immediately know to keep sparks, flames, and heat away. The number breakdown for this section is as follows: Zero - Any label that has a zero in this diamond is a material that will not burn, even in typical fire conditions.
What does the top diamond mean?
The top diamond has a red background and lets people know whether the chemical being labeled is flammable. Chemicals that cannot burn will have a zero in this diamond, and those that are extremely flammable will have a four. Most chemicals will have a rating somewhere in between.
Why does the white diamond at the bottom of the page not have a number?
The white diamond, which is at the bottom, does not contain a number like the others because it does not list the severity of a particular type of hazard. Instead, this diamond contains symbols that convey special precautions or hazards that exist.
What is a fire diamond?
You probably have seen NFPA 704 or the fire diamond on chemical containers. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in the United States uses a standard called NFPA 704 as a chemical hazard label. NFPA 704 sometimes is called a "fire diamond" because the diamond-shaped sign indicates flammability of a substance and also communicates ...
What does the red section on a diamond mean?
On this scale, 0 indicates "no hazard" while 4 means "severe hazard". The red section indicates flammability. The blue section indicates a health risk. Yellow indicates reactivity or explosivity.
What is the flash point of diesel fuel?
diesel fuel. Red - 3. Liquids or solids that readily ignite at most ambient temperature conditions. Liquids have a flash point below 23°C (73°F) and the boiling point at or above 38°C (100°F) or flash point between 23°C (73°F) and 38°C (100°F) gasoline.
When was the Fire Diamond first used?
First "tentatively adopted as a guide" in 1960 , and revised several times since then, it defines the colloquial " Safety Square " or " Fire Diamond " used by emergency personnel to quickly and easily identify the risks posed by hazardous materials.
What is the NFPA 704 fire diamond?
NFPA 704. fire diamond. 1. 3. 2. W. " NFPA 704: Standard System for the Identification of the Hazards of Materials for Emergency Response " is a standard maintained by the U.S. -based National Fire Protection Association.
What is the flammability of a material?
Flammability (red) 0. Materials that will not burn under typical fire conditions (e.g. carbon tetrachloride ), including intrinsically noncombustible materials such as concrete, stone, and sand. Materials that will not burn in air when exposed to a temperature of 820 °C (1,500 °F) for a period of 5 minutes. 1.
What is the flash point of a solid?
mineral oil, ammonia ). Includes some finely divided suspended solids that do not require heating before ignition can occur. Flash point at or above 93.3 °C ( 200 °F). 2.
What are the colors of fire diamonds?
Fire diamonds located on tanks and buildings indicate the level of chemical hazard located there. The four colors are blue, red, yellow, and white. 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. The red indicates explosiveness or readiness to ignite. A four in the red indicates an extremely high ability to ignite and combust. The Yellow concerns Reactivity, or the chemical's ability to react with other chemicals in the environment. The white indicates special precautions, usually used for oxy, or oxidizing agent.
What does a diamond with a 4 in the blue, red, and yellow boxes mean?
Seeing a diamond with a 4 in the blue, red, and yellow boxes does not mean that such a chemical is at the facility. Then again, the fire diamond may actually reflect the information about a specific chemical. It is easy to see why something more specific than a fire diamond is necessary for emergency response.
What to do if there is no fire diamond?
If tanks and/or barrels of chemicals are visible at a facility, and no fire diamond or other posted sign is apparent, call the local fire department's non-emergency number and ask about this. Facilities should also be sure to post fire diamonds so that when facility doors are opened, shut, or left open, the fire diamond is still easily and readily visible.
What does the red in a sprite mean?
The red indicates explosiveness or readiness to ignite. A four in the red indicates an extremely high ability to ignite and combust. The Yellow concerns Reactivity, or the chemical's ability to react with other chemicals in the environment.
Does a fire department have to have a fire diamond?
The Uniform Fire Code requires fire diamonds or other similar postings, but in some cases a local fire department does not adopt the Uniform Fire Code, or is behind in updating these requirements. There may also be a backlog in facility fire inspections that keeps inspectors from the fire department from noticing that a fire diamond is missing.
Do you need a fire diamond for an emergency?
It is easy to see why something more specific than a fire diamond is necessary for emergency response. And the lack of a fire diamond is not definite evidence that dangerous chemicals are not at a facility. EPCRA does not require fire diamonds to be posted, but any good facility emergency planning should include posting ...
What is a safety diamond?
NFPA diamond diagram also known as safety diamond is developed by the Nation fire protection association for hazard identification and still, it is widely used over the world. National fire protection association is established as a nonprofit organization, in 1896. One can also call this is NFPA 704 and couple of other names as safety square ...
What color are diamonds?
The four-color of NFPA diamonds is Red, yellow blue, and white.
What is NFPA Diamond diagram?
NFPA diamond diagram consists of four divisions with color and has a number from (0-4) in three of the division and special character written one of it. Each division is color with Red, blue while and yellow which indicates health hazards, flammability, reactivity, and special hazards that chemical may profess during a fire.
What does the white represent on the NFPA diamond?
The white diamond, appearing at the bottom of the label, conveys Special Hazard information. This information is conveyed by use of symbols that represent the special hazard. … To determine the NFPA Hazard Ratings for a material that does not have the label affixed, check the Material Safety Data Sheet.
What do the four colors in the NFPA diamond 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. The Health section conveys the health hazards of the material.
What does the color white within a diamond mean?
The four colors are blue, red, yellow, and white. … The white indicates special precautions, usually used for oxy, or oxidizing agent.
What is a 704 diamond?
What is the NFPA Hazard Diamond? The NFPA 704 Diamond, commonly referred to as the NFPA Hazard Diamond, provides a system for identifying the specific hazards of a material and the severity of the hazard that would occur during an emergency response. The system addresses the health, flammability, instability, and special hazards presented ...
What does red mean in hazard?
Colors are used to further distinguish the hazards, with red referring to flammability, blue referring to health, and yellow referring to instability. Severity is indicated by a numerical rating that ranges from 0 (as the minimal hazard) to 4 (as a severe hazard).
Beauty That Comes To Light
For the fire to become evident, it is necessary to resort to light. Most diamonds are transparent, and light can pass through them easier than in sapphire or garnet, for example. That’s why – and how – a diamond’s fire comes out.
The Fundamentals Of Light
To better understand the fire of a diamond and how it occurs, we need to discuss the basics of light first.
How Does Diamond Cut Influence Fire?
When light penetrates a diamond, it is broken down into multiple hues – which causes fire. That is why diamond fire is also known as “dispersion.” As you might expect, this is also why cut is so crucial in determining how much fire a diamond has.
How To Keep Diamond Fire
Even though your diamond does not appear to be dirty, you should nevertheless clean it on a regular basis. The need to clean diamonds is sometimes overlooked, but it keeps them shining – and the fire burning.
Conclusion
The diamond’s qualities are what make people stare at you from across a room. Its sparkle, fire, and brilliance are, in essence, what makes a diamond – a diamond.
