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0.4: Hazard Communication

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    Communication of Chemical Hazards

    The Hazard Communication Regulation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that anyone who might come in contact with chemicals be informed of potential hazards. Communication of chemical hazards is through labels and safety data sheets as described below.

    The Fire Diamond

    A quick visual representation of hazards is provided by the Health, Flammability, Instability (HFI) or “Fire” diamond developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The diamond consists of four quadrants with numbers or special symbols representing the degree of certain hazards. The top three quadrants contain National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes (numbers from 0 to 4) indicating the degree of a particular risk.

    4 – Extreme Risk

    3 – Serious Risk

    2 – Moderate Risk

    1 – Slight Risk

    0 – Minimal Risk


    Sample of an HFI Diamond

    diamond.png

    Interpretation of HFI Diamond

    Quadrant

    Type of Hazard

    Color

    Example

    left

    health

    blue

    3 = severe health hazard

    top

    flammability

    red

    4 = extremely flammable

    right

    instability

    yellow

    2 = moderate reactivity

    bottom

    special

    white

    W = use no water

    Hazard Pictograms

    OSHA required hazard pictograms on labels consist of a black hazard symbol on a white background framed within a red border in the shape of a square set on a point. You should be familiar with these symbols.

    Health Hazard

    download (3).png

    • Carcinogen
    • Mutagenicity
    • Reproductive Toxicity
    • Respiratory Sensitizer
    • Target Organ Toxicity
    • Aspiration Toxicity

    Flame

    download (4).png

    • Flammables
    • Pyrophorics
    • Self-Heating
    • Emits Flammable Gas
    • Self-Reactives
    • Organic Peroxides

    Exclamation Mark

    download (6).png

    • Irritant (skin and eye)
    • Skin Sensitizer
    • Acute Toxicity
    • Narcotic Effects
    • Respiratory Tract Irritant
    • Hazardous to Ozone Layer (Non-Mandatory)

    Corrosion

    download (7).png

    • Skin Corrosion/Burns
    • Eye Damage
    • Corrosive to Metals

    Exploding Bomb

    download (9).png

    • Explosives
    • Self-Reactives
    • Organic Peroxides

    Gas Cylinder

    download (8).png

    • Gases Under Pressure

    Flame Over Circle

    download (10).png

    • Oxidizers

    Skull and Crossbones

    download (11).png

    • Acute Toxicity (fatal or toxic)

    Environment

    download (12).png

    Not Mandatory

    • Aquatic Toxicity

    For a more complete discussion of hazard pictograms, visit the OSHA Web site. www.osha.gov


    0.4: Hazard Communication is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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