Hazard Communications

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To the other educational benefits of Rudy Giuliani's recent press conference in the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, we can add the opportunity to learn about Hazard Communications (HazCom) signage.

On the right of the garage door forming the backdrop for Mr. Giuliani's presentation, there's a (faded and peeling, but still legible) NFPA Fire Diamond symbol.

As Wikipedia explains,

The four divisions are typically color-coded with red on top indicating flammability, blue on the left indicating level of health hazard, yellow on the right for chemical reactivity, and white containing codes for special hazards. Each of health, flammability and reactivity is rated on a scale from 0 (no hazard) to 4 (severe hazard).

So 4 in the sign's "flammability" diamond means

Will rapidly or completely vaporize at normal atmospheric pressure and temperature, or is readily dispersed in air and will burn readily (e.g. acetylene, propane, hydrogen gas, diborane). Includes pyrophoric substances. Flash point below room temperature at 22.8 °C (73 °F).

2 in the "health hazard" diamond means

Intense or continued but not chronic exposure could cause temporary incapacitation or possible residual injury (e.g. diethyl ether, ammonium phosphate, carbon dioxide, iodine, chloroform, DEET).

3 in the "instability-reactivity" diamond means

Capable of detonation or explosive decomposition but requires a strong initiating source, must be heated under confinement before initiation, reacts explosively with water, or will detonate if severely shocked (e.g. ammonium nitrate, caesium, diborane, hydrogen peroxide).

And OX in the "special notice" diamond means

Oxidizer, allows chemicals to burn without an air supply (e.g. potassium perchlorate, ammonium nitrate, hydrogen peroxide).

That sums up the situation at Four Seasons Total Landscaping. To complete your NFPA Fire Diamond education, you can study the rest of the Wikipedia article.


I should add the venue's twitter account has made it possible for you to use the same basic background that Rudy did (though unfortunately the NFPA diamond is not as sharply rendered in their picture as we might like):

You could use it use it straight, or in combination with some of Zoom's Video Filter options.



6 Comments

  1. AntC said,

    November 11, 2020 @ 4:32 pm

    Presumably Giuliani's team, thinking they were booking a swishy hotel, paid 'Four Seasons' for using their parking lot. I wonder how many Gardening companies would even have had the presence of mind to accept a booking?

    These are smart people, and they're showing linguistic ingenuity. They're obviously wasted mowing lawns; any way Trump/Giuliani could use them to run the country? Spreading fertiliser is much like spreading Covid.

  2. wanda said,

    November 11, 2020 @ 4:56 pm

    Love the eyebrows!

  3. Garrett Wollman said,

    November 11, 2020 @ 6:30 pm

    It would make sense for a landscaping firm to have ammonium nitrate on hand, since it's a fertilizer.

  4. Terry Hunt said,

    November 11, 2020 @ 8:12 pm

    I wonder what the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel would have charged for hosting this event, what the landscaping company charged, and what invoice, for how much, Giuliani will show the accountants when he claims the expenses?

  5. Jonathan Silk said,

    November 12, 2020 @ 3:56 am

    Perhaps this is the place to ask this. These clever people are marketting "Lawn and Order" goods, but why not "Lawn Order"? That seems to me closer to "Law and".

    @Terry Hunt: given the history of the campaign, I'd say it's not very likely anyone will get paid if they send a bill… But the PR value must be astronomical, so they probably won't complain.

  6. Michael said,

    November 13, 2020 @ 1:55 pm

    @Jonathan Silk: Pretty sure they would run into copyright issues. There is already a "Lawn Order, LLC," also a landscaping company in the US.

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