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MU Home » Faculty, Staff, and Administration » Office of Environmental Health and Safety

NFPA HAZARD RATING SYSTEM

Methodist University's laboratory doors are posted with emergency information to warn occupants and The Fayetteville Fire Department personnel of the presence and identification of hazardous materials inside each laboratory. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has developed a system for indicating the health, flammability, reactivity and special hazards for many common chemicals through use of the NFPA 704 Diamond. The hazard rating for the laboratory is determined by looking at all the chemicals, gases and special lab uses in the laboratory and coming up with a rating for each hazard category based on criteria established below.

Please read the rating information in each category, take an inventory of your laboratory and rate each category accordingly. To look up a rating for a particular chemical click on the link at the bottom of the page. If you do not find the chemical listed, a review of the chemicals MSDS sheet may help you rate the chemical in question. To look up a chemicals MSDS click on the "MSDS" link at the bottom of the page.

If there are any questions regarding a chemical rating, please either email your question or call the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at x7558.

Rating Summary

Health
Use the most severe rating code regardless of volume.

Health (Blue)

Flammability
The greatest volume of one code determines the marking. The only exception is if a more severe code has a volume of 3 gallons or greater, then that code is used instead of a lower code of greater volume. If the laboratory total volume of flammables or combustibles is less than one pint for all, then the rating for the laboratory for this area shall be zero.

Flammability (Red)

Reactivity
Use the most severe rating code regardless of volume.

Reactivity (Yellow)

Special Information
Indicate the presence of the following regardless of volume.

Special Information Key (White)

Special Signage Key (These are signs that shall or must be posted in addition to the NFPA diamond)