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 and Fire diamond. NFPA fire diamond diagram is designed to provide information quickly related to the identification of risks of hazardous materials which will help the emergency response team to act accordingly.
There are lots of terms that are associated with industrial and among those, NFPA is one of them, previously, we had discussed what is Hazchem Code Chart & Details With Examples similarly, today, in this post we will learn what is fire diamond diagram its uses and chart.
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.
Purpose
Fire diamond is to convey the instruction to fire the fighting person about the hazard to the human from the chemical. It represents hazard to human health in 4 aspects, heath Flammability reactivity, and special hazard. One can see NFPA fire diamond diagram trucks transporting chemicals, chemical storage containers, cylinders, or drums.
NFPA Diamond diagram Chart
Health Hazard
- 4 – Deadly
- 3 – Extremely danger
- 2 – Hazardous
- 1 – Slightly Hazardous
- 0 – Normal Material
Flammability Hazard
- 4 – Material with a flash point below 73 ºF
- 3 – Material with a flash point below 100 ºF
- 2 – Material with a flash point below 200 ºF
- 1 – Material with a flash point above 200 ºF
- 0 – Will Not Burn
Reactivity
- 4 – May detonate
- 3 – Shock and heat may detonate
- 2 – Violent chemical change
- 1 – Unstable when heated
- 0 – Stable
Special Hazard
- ACID – Acid
- ALK – Alkali
- COR – Corrosive
- OXY – Oxidizer
- ☢ – Radioactive
- W – Use No Water
Example of NFPA Diamond diagram of Chlorine
Here is the example of NFPA diagram of chlorine, in which, the rating is given as below, – Read MSDS of chlorine
- Health – 4 – Here, 4 number indicates that this can be lethal.
- Flammability – 0 – Will not burn
- Reactivity – 0 – Normally stable
- Special Hazard – OX – Possess oxidizing properties.
Wrapping Up
This was a brief on what is NFPA diamond guide and the purpose of it. If you related to the chemical industry or you want to learn more about industrial safety, you can read industrial safety articles where we had cover important topics in brief. In mean time, you can read 6 Steps Of Hazard Prevention which will help you to know what is workplace safety and how to prevent them.
