Where should NFPA diamonds and labels be?

If your company is using the NFPA labeling standards, it is important to take steps to ensure you are doing it properly. This includes understanding how to get the proper labels that you need, and knowing where they should be used. This brief article will outline the standards and best practices on where NFPA labels and/or diamonds should be in order to ensure they are most effective.

Creating NFPA Diamond Labels

The first thing to do when getting ready to use NFPA diamonds is to acquire the proper labels. Companies can either order these labels from a print shop of some sort, or print them off in-house. Any company that has an industrial label printer and the proper label stock will be able to save a lot of time and money by simply printing them off on site. Virtually all industrial label makers will come with software that includes the NFPA diamond template as well, so it is very easy to do.

What Requires an NFPA Diamond Label?

The next thing to look into is what type of things require an NFPA diamond label. These labels should be placed on any hazardous material that is used by the company, or transported by the company. This includes all storage containers, shipping trucks, and the containers that hold the hazardous material while it is being used.

An easy way to determine where the NFPA diamond is required is to ask whether an emergency responder would need to know that this type of material is present in an area. In virtually all cases, the answer will be yes, so you will want to place the NFPA diamond to alert both these responders and anyone who works with the material of the hazards.

Positioning NFPA Diamond Labels

Finally, you will want to make sure that you position the NFPA diamond labels properly according to the consensus standards. When a truck is transporting hazardous materials, the diamond should be placed on the left side of the back of the trailer. In general, it goes on the upper half of the truck so that it is the most visible, but that is not strictly required.

When placing labels on containers, it is simply necessary to place them in such a way as to ensure they are easily visible. The size of the diamond label should also be considered. On smaller containers, the diamond can be scaled down to fit as long as it is still easy to see and read. The fact that NFPA diamonds are relatively simple in their design helps to ensure that they can be seen and comprehended even if quite small.