Via Wikimedia Commons under CC 4.0
When handling a can of deodorant, did you ever come across that little picture on the bottle that made you handle it a lot more carefully?
Well . . . no 🙃 . . . and symbols like that are not just found on your stick of deodorant.
Literally, they are everywhere from paint to packaging to street signs.
Those pictures are called Hazard symbols, and they are designed to warn about dangerous materials, objects, and locations.
They are preferred to just posting a written sign because, the symbols used can be universally understood.
Here are 10 Globally used Hazard Symbols and their in-depth meanings.
1. Flammable
Symbol: Flame
This one is easily recognizable and the meaning is quite clear. Any material that has this symbol on it is easily set on fire. If you bring a flame near it, it will burn.
But that's not all 🙃.
This symbol is also used for materials that are pyrophoric. This simply means that you don't need to bring a flame near the material. If you expose it to air, it will spontaneously ignite.
This is one of the most common Hazard symbols. Common materials carrying this symbol include aerosols, and alkyllithiums (pyrophoric).
2. Oxidizing
Symbol: Flame over circle
This symbol also contains a flame so we know it has to do with some kind of fire. Unlike the flammable symbol however, this symbol also has a circle.
This represents that the material contains certain chemicals known as “Oxidizers”.
Oxidizers are chemicals that facilitate burning. They do not burn on their own. However, they intensify the burning of other materials making them burn much hotter and longer.
Oxidizers also make other materials ignite quicker. A common materials bearing this symbol is bleach.
3. Health hazard (Harmful)
Symbol: Exclamation mark
This easily understandable symbol is commonly used to warn about immediate danger.
When used in products like chemicals for example, this symbol warns about immediate health hazards like skin, eye, and respiratory tract irritation.
It may also indicate that the product is a narcotic or is toxic. These materials are best handled with care, using appropriate equipment.
4. Serious health Hazard
Symbol: Human silhouette with white star shape
It's highly likely that you don't want what's happening to the person in the pictogram to happen to you 🙃.
This symbol is used to warn of more serious health hazards that an exclamation mark doesn't cut.
This includes substances that cause respiratory problems, reproductive defects, gene mutation, cancer, and organ toxicity. These substances cause damage over a longer period of time.
5. Corrosive
Symbol: Corrosion
This symbol is found on materials that cause visible damage to living tissue on contact. These chemicals may burn the skin or cause serious eye damage.
The material should not be played with or handled without protective gear.
This symbol is also used when the material is corrosive to metals. Common materials bearing this symbol include drain cleaners and auto batteries.
6. Acute Toxicity
Symbol: Skull and crossbones
The skull and crossbones symbol has a bit of a story to it. It has been used throughout history to represent danger or death.
If you find this symbol on an item, it means that the material is poisonous to humans. It must not be ingested or even sniffed.
Materials bearing this symbol will have an immediate and severe toxic effect on the victim, which can be fatal. Usually the most common materials bearing this symbols are poisons.
7. Hazardous to the Environment
Symbol: Dead fish and tree
This symbol is used for materials that may cause serious damage to the environment, and particularly aquatic life.
Usually the damage done by these materials are long lasting. These materials should be disposed of properly.
Common materials that come with this label are petrol, pesticides and turpentine.
8. Gas under Pressure
Symbol: Gas cylinder
This symbol is used to denote that a container contains compressed gas. The use of this information is that the container should be handled carefully.
Depending on the size of the cylinder or the type of gas it contains, a damaged compressed gas cylinder could result in fire, suffocation, skin damage or other physical injury.
The symbol can be found on propane, nitrogen, and helium cylinders.
9. Explosive
Symbol: Exploding bomb
This symbol is used for explosives.
Including both those that need to be ignited, and those that are so unstable they are self-reactive.
These materials are not commonly used because they cause severe human and property damage when accidents occur.
These materials are handled and stored with care by trained professionals. If you get to see this symbol . . . back away slowly 🙃. Materials in this category include organic peroxides.
10. Fire Diamond
Via Wikimedia Commons under CC 4.0
Symbol: A Diamond shape divided into 4 sections that are Blue, Red, Yellow and White
Technically, “NFPA 704” (the actual name of the symbol) is not part of the Global Hazard Symbols.
However, it is a system commonly used for classifying Hazardous materials in the US.
The Red, Blue, and Yellow sections of the diamond have a severity rating from 0-4.
Blue section: Health Hazard
Red Section: Fire Hazard
Yellow Section: Instability Hazard
White Section: Specific Hazard
As an example, if a material had the number 0 written in the red section of the fire Diamond, it means that the material will not burn. If 4 is written on it however, it means that the material is extremely ignitable. It is the same pattern for the health and instability hazards (you may reference the image).
The white Section of the Fire Diamond however, does not contain a number from 0-4.
Rather, there are symbols denoting certain “specific hazards” such as Corrosion, Oxidizers, and Radiation.
When put together, the information from the various sections of a fire Diamond give in-depth information about the Hazardous nature of a material.
All these Hazard symbols are designed to be easily recognizable, and they demonstrate that all materials bearing them should be handled with some care.
Let me know in the comments if there are other Hazard symbols that should be on this list. I hope you enjoyed reading this story.
Stay safe.
See you next time.
