Fire Hazard
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"AN
ORDINANCE FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF FIRE HAZARDS" Oconee
County has many businesses which manufacture, use and store hazardous substances
which are covered by tile Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act of 1980 (PL 96-510) hereinafter referred to as CERCLA and the
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (PL 99-'199) hereinafter
referred to as SARA. Both CERCLA and SARA listings of hazardous substances
require notifications to county, state and federal agencies should a spill
occur. Because the Oconee County Council is concerned with the health, fire,
reactivity and other related hazards created by short term exposure as might be
encountered under fire or related conditions, it is ORDERED
that the standard system for the identification of fire hazards of materials
developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 704M System) be
adopted in Oconee County to provide a system of readily recognizable and easily
understood markings, which will give at a glance a general idea of the inherent
hazards of any material and the order of severity of these hazards as they
relate to fire prevention, exposure and control. The objectives of tills system
is to provide an appropriate signal or alert and on-the-spot information to
safeguard the lives of both public and private fire fighting personnel during
fire emergencies. It will also assist in planning for effective fire fighting
operations. This system is intended to give basic information to fire fighting
and emergency personnel enabling them to decide better whether to evacuate the THIS
system identifies the hazards of a material in terms of three principal
categories, namely: "health", "flammability", and
"reactivity (instability)"; and indicates the order of severity
numerically by five divisions ranging from "four (4)" indicating a
severe hazards to "zero (0)" indicating no special hazards. This
information is presented by a spatial system of diagrams with "health"
always being on the left; "flammability" at the top; and
"reactivity (instability)" on the right. Supplementing the spatial
arrangement, color backgrounds or numbers are used for the three categories
-blue for "health hazards"; red for "flammability", and
yellow or "reactivity (instability)". A diagram is attached as an
example. The
fourth space in the marking shall be used to indicate unusual reactivity with
water. The recommended signal to indicate this unusual reactivity with water and
to alert the fire fighting personnel to the possible hazard of using water 1.5
the letter "w" with a line through the center "W". This
space may also be used to indicate additional information such as radioactivity,
proper
fire extinguishing agent, or other protective equipment required in case of fire
or other emergency. This
ordinance shall be carried out as follows: The
Fire Department Captain (or designated alternate) shall: 1.
Provide the hazard evaluation 2.
Determine the information to be displayed on the placard 3. Determine the size
placard needed 4.
Determine the location for the placement of the placard 5.
Work with the business covered by SARA or
CERCLA to develop
a pre-fire plan The
business shall: 1.
Bear all costs and expense of developing and erecting a placard for each area
where hazardous substances are stored. used or manufactured 2.
Develop a pre-fire plan with the assistance of the local fire department 3.
Notify
the fire department (verbally within seven (7) days, followed by written notice within two
(2) weeks) when changes are made to the area that could change the placard for
the building The
County Fire Marshal shall be responsible for routinely auditing that the
placards are in place and that the placards on the exterior of the building are
in agreement with the contents of the building. NOW
THEREFORE. BE IT RESOLVED that this ordinance shall be effective
within ninety (90) days after third and final reading by
Oconee
County Council. DONE,
RATIFIED & ADOPTED, on third and final reading this 7th day of March, 1989
by a vote of: 5 Yes
0 No Attest: Norman
D. Crain Supervisor-Chairman Oconee
County Council
EMERGENCY GUIDE FOR
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS NATIONAL FIRE
PROTECTION ASSOCIATION NFPA 704M SYSTEM The NFPA diamond symbol is used to provide emergency responders
with an indication of the hazards present in a building or area. Numbers
corresponding to the following key are placed
in the appropriate colored boxes in the multicolored diamond placard at the
bottom of this page. FLAMMABILITY
(RED) is
the degree of susceptibility of materials to burning. 0 Will not burn 1 Must be preheated to burn. Flash point above 200F. 2 WARNING: Ignites with moderate heat. Flash point 100F-200F. 3 HAZARDOUS: Ignites at room temperature. Flash point 73F-99F. 4 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS: Highly flammable liquids and explosive
gases. Flash point below 73F. REACTIVITY (YELLOW)
is the degree of susceptibility of materials to
release energy. 0 Normally stable at all temperatures. Not reactive with water. 1 CAUTION: May become unstable when heated or mixed with water. 2 HAZARDOUS: Normally unstable or may have violent chemical change
when mixed with water. 3 DANGEROUS: explodes with exposure to confined heat, shock, or
when mixed with water. 4 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS: Explodes at room temperature. HEALTH
HAZARD (blue) is
the degree of injury from burning materials. 0 Creates no unusual hazard 1 CAUTION: Causes irritation or minor injury.. 2 HAZARDOUS: Intense exposure may be harmful.. 3 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS: Avoid skin contact and inhalation. 4 FATAL: Too dangerous to enter without specialized protective
equipment. OTHER
(white)) indicates special
warnings. ACID – acid ALK – alkali COR – corrosive P – subject to polymerization when mixed with
water OXY – oxidizing chemicals W - do not use water
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