Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Student Manual

CA Emergency Mgmt. Agency Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Manual April 2011The NFPA system identifies materials by their health hazard, fire hazard, reactivity, andspecific hazard. The placard used is shown in Figure 7-9 on this page. The color coding isconsistent and does not relate to the particular level of hazard; the numbers in the color codedareas relate to the level of hazard.Blue denotes the health hazard, red denotes the fire or flammability hazard, yellow denotesthe reactivity of the materials, and white denotes the specific hazard. All except the specifichazard are rated by a number system of 0 to 4, with 4 being the worst hazard and 0 being theleast.Photo courtesy NFPAFigure 7-9 – NFPA Hazardous Materials Classification System7.3.2 Department of Transportation (DOT) Placard SystemFederal DOT regulations define a hazardous material as “a substance or material, includinga hazardous substance, which has been determined by the Secretary of Transportation to becapable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported incommerce, and which has been so designated.”The DOT system is primarily used for labeling containers of transported hazardous materials.The placards are classified by hazard class names, hazard class numbers, associated color,221