Hazardous Materials Identification

Under Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Hazard Communication Hazard, 29 CFR 1910.1200 all of the chemicals need to be properly labeled and identified.

The major components in identifying a chemical are the following:

• Manufacturer Label
  • Name of the chemical; if the chemical consists of more than one product, the composition and the percentage of all of its products should be listed
  • Warning of the hazards associated with the chemical; the warnings are in a form of a symbol or a sign
  • Name and address of the manufacturer
• NFPA Diamond Label
  • Helps identify the properties of the chemical
  • Blue indicates health hazard associated with a chemical
  • Red indicates flammability of a chemical
  • Orange indicates reactivity or the physical hazard of the chemical
  • White indicates what personal protective equipment (PPE) should be used when working with this chemical

• Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
  • Provides physical and chemical properties of the chemical
  • Health hazards associated with the chemical
  • Procedures to follow in an event of a spill
  • Disposal procedures

To ensure safety all of the chemicals used in the work area should be properly labeled to avoid injuries/accidents.

If you have questions regarding a chemical or if no information is available for a chemical please contact Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) at 646-NYP-SAFE.