NFPA 704 fire diamond
NFPA 704 fire diamond
A US placard telling emergency responders how a stored chemical behaves in a fire.
What it looks like
A diamond of four smaller diamonds: blue on the left, red on top, yellow on the right, white at the bottom, each holding a number from 0 to 4 or a code.
What it means
Blue is health, red is flammability, yellow is instability or reactivity, and each runs 0 for no hazard to 4 for severe. The white square carries a special code: OX for an oxidiser, a W with a line through it for water-reactive, SA for simple asphyxiant. It is addressed to firefighters approaching a building, not to users of the product, so it describes a short intense exposure rather than the chronic hazards on a GHS label — which is why the two systems can rate the same substance differently and neither is wrong.
Defined by NFPA 704. Where a symbol differs between standards, the difference is described above rather than resolved — both versions are in circulation on real labels.
Other hazard warnings symbols
| Symbol | Means |
|---|---|
| Exploding bomb (GHS01) | Explosive, self-reactive, or an organic peroxide that can explode. |
| Flame (GHS02) | Flammable — or a substance that heats up, ignites in air, or gives off flammable gas when wet. |
| Flame over circle (GHS03) | Oxidising — it will feed a fire, including one that has nothing else to burn with. |
| Gas cylinder (GHS04) | Gas under pressure — compressed, liquefied, refrigerated or dissolved. |
| Corrosion (GHS05) | Causes severe skin burns and eye damage, or corrodes metal. |
| Skull and crossbones (GHS06) | Acute toxicity — fatal or toxic in small amounts by swallowing, skin contact or inhalation. |
| Exclamation mark (GHS07) | Irritant, skin sensitiser, harmful if swallowed or inhaled, or may cause drowsiness — the lower-severity hazards. |
| Health hazard (GHS08) | Serious long-term health effects — cancer, genetic damage, harm to fertility or the unborn child, organ damage, asthma from inhalation, or fatal if swallowed and it enters the airways. |
| Environment (GHS09) | Hazardous to the aquatic environment — toxic to fish and other water life. |
| Orange explosive (E) | Explosive, under the old European system. |
| Orange oxidising (O) | Oxidising agent, under the old European system. |
| Orange flammable (F, F+) | Highly flammable (F) or extremely flammable (F+), under the old European system. |
| Orange toxic (T, T+) | Toxic (T) or very toxic (T+), under the old European system. |
| Orange harmful or irritant (Xn, Xi) | Harmful (Xn) or irritant (Xi), under the old European system. |
| Orange corrosive (C) | Corrosive, under the old European system. |
| Orange dangerous for the environment (N) | Dangerous for the environment, under the old European system. |
| Biohazard | Biological material that can cause disease — blood, cultures, clinical waste. |
| Radiation trefoil | Ionising radiation — a radioactive source or a device producing radiation. |
| Laser radiation | Laser radiation — do not look into the beam. |
Common questions
- What does the nfpa 704 fire diamond symbol mean?
- A US placard telling emergency responders how a stored chemical behaves in a fire.
- What does it look like?
- A diamond of four smaller diamonds: blue on the left, red on top, yellow on the right, white at the bottom, each holding a number from 0 to 4 or a code.
Related pages
- Flame (GHS02) Flammable — or a substance that heats up, ignites in air, or gives off flammable gas when wet.
- Health hazard (GHS08) Serious long-term health effects — cancer, genetic damage, harm to fertility or the unborn child, organ damage, asthma from inhalation, or fatal if swallowed and it enters the airways.
- Flame over circle (GHS03) Oxidising — it will feed a fire, including one that has nothing else to burn with.
- Exploding bomb (GHS01) Explosive, self-reactive, or an organic peroxide that can explode.
- Flame (GHS02) Flammable — or a substance that heats up, ignites in air, or gives off flammable gas when wet.
- Flame over circle (GHS03) Oxidising — it will feed a fire, including one that has nothing else to burn with.
- Gas cylinder (GHS04) Gas under pressure — compressed, liquefied, refrigerated or dissolved.
- Corrosion (GHS05) Causes severe skin burns and eye damage, or corrodes metal.
- Skull and crossbones (GHS06) Acute toxicity — fatal or toxic in small amounts by swallowing, skin contact or inhalation.
- Exclamation mark (GHS07) Irritant, skin sensitiser, harmful if swallowed or inhaled, or may cause drowsiness — the lower-severity hazards.
- Health hazard (GHS08) Serious long-term health effects — cancer, genetic damage, harm to fertility or the unborn child, organ damage, asthma from inhalation, or fatal if swallowed and it enters the airways.
- Environment (GHS09) Hazardous to the aquatic environment — toxic to fish and other water life.
- Orange explosive (E) Explosive, under the old European system.
Sources
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place