Share thisWe all know how diamonds are formed. You take a lump of carbon and subject it to intense pressure and high temperatures and magically those carbon atoms are pressed into a diamond. The diamonds we are going to form will be a tad easier.
This month’s safety column is the third in our series on safe laboratory chemical management. Loyal readers of our ALN safety column were introduced to safe chemical handling with our “Tidy Up!” article describing how to develop and implement a program for proper management of laboratory chemicals. As that article stated, it all begins with a complete, up to date, and accurate chemical inventory. Our second article was a tutorial on understanding material safety data sheets. This issue we are going to discuss the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) hazard diamond, sometimes referred to as the fire diamond, and how to decipher the information it contains.
Classes and the NFPA Hazard Diamond
Experienced animal laboratory managers know that there are four basic categories of chemicals: toxic, corrosive, flammable, and reactive. However, in our chemical world there are many additional categories and subsets of these main four.We should also keep in mind that many chemicals exhibit a combination of properties and would fall into more than a single class or category. These four properties are the foundation of the NFPA hazard diamond. Coincidentally, these four categories are the main criteria used to define wastes as hazardous under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The hazard diamond has gained wide acceptance and most manufacturers include it on their labels when appropriate. Figure 1 shows the layout of the different sections and our discussion will start at the top and work clockwise around the diamond.