Recognition and Identification: Placards, NFPA 704, SDS, Shipping Papers, and the ERG Practice Questions

25 multiple-choice questions on Recognition and identification: placards, NFPA 704, SDS, shipping papers, and the ERG for paramedic and EMT students, from Chapter 50 (Hazardous Materials). Read each question, pick your answer, then tap Show answer to check it and read the explanation.

25 practice questions

1. On an NFPA 704 diamond, the blue section at the left indicates the material's:

   1. A. Flammability
   2. B. Instability
   3. C. Special hazard
   4. D. Health hazard
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   Answer: D. Health hazard

   The NFPA 704 diamond shows health in blue (left), flammability in red (top), instability in yellow (right), and special hazards in white (bottom). Red is often guessed for health because it signals danger, but red is flammability.

2. The NFPA 704 diamond on a storage room door shows 3 in blue, 0 in red, 1 in yellow, and a W with a line through it in white. This chemical:

   1. A. Is a serious health hazard and reacts with water
   2. B. Is highly flammable but safe to wash off with water
   3. C. Is a minor health hazard that is very unstable
   4. D. Is an oxidizer that can be put out with water
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   Answer: A. Is a serious health hazard and reacts with water

   Ratings run 0 (minimal) to 4 (severe), so blue 3 is a serious health hazard, red 0 means it will not burn, and yellow 1 is slight instability. A W with a slash warns against using water; OX would mark an oxidizer.

3. In the Emergency Response Guidebook, the yellow-bordered pages list materials:

   1. A. Alphabetically by their chemical name
   2. B. In order of their 4-digit ID number
   3. C. By hazard class, from 1 through 9
   4. D. By the guide number assigned to each
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   Answer: B. In order of their 4-digit ID number

   The yellow section is sorted numerically by UN/NA identification number, and the blue section lists the same materials alphabetically by name. Both point the user to a guide number in the orange section.

4. The blue-bordered pages of the ERG are used when the responder knows the material's:

   1. A. ID number but not its name
   2. B. Name but not its ID number
   3. C. Hazard class from the placard
   4. D. Container type from its shape
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   Answer: B. Name but not its ID number

   The blue section lists materials alphabetically by name and gives the ID number and guide number for each. When only an ID number is known, the yellow section is used; a placard alone is looked up in the white pages' placard table.

5. You have found guide number 124 for the material leaking from a cylinder. To learn its health hazards, public safety measures, and first aid, you next turn to the ERG's:

   1. A. Orange section
   2. B. Green section
   3. C. Yellow section
   4. D. Blue section
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   Answer: A. Orange section

   Each orange guide page has three parts: potential hazards (fire or explosion and health), public safety (including PPE and evacuation), and emergency response (fire, spill, and first aid). The green section gives isolation and protective action distances for certain materials only.

6. In the ERG's yellow pages, the entry for the gas leaking from a rail car is highlighted. If no fire is involved, this tells you to:

   1. A. Skip the orange guide and call the shipper before taking action
   2. B. Use the protective distances that are printed on the placard
   3. C. Use the green section's isolation and action distances
   4. D. Evacuate at least 1 mile downwind for safety
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   Answer: C. Use the green section's isolation and action distances

   Highlighted materials are toxic by inhalation or produce toxic gas when spilled in water, so the green pages list their initial isolation and downwind protective action distances. If a fire is involved, the evacuation distances in the orange guide take priority.

7. A box truck has overturned and is leaking an unknown liquid. You cannot see any placard, label, or shipping paper. Until the material is identified, the ERG directs you to use:

   1. A. Guide 128, the guide for flammable liquids
   2. B. The green-page distances for the largest spill
   3. C. The guide for the most toxic gas in the yellow pages
   4. D. Guide 111, for mixed loads or unidentified cargo
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   Answer: D. Guide 111, for mixed loads or unidentified cargo

   When the material cannot be identified, the ERG directs responders to Guide 111, which covers mixed loads and unidentified cargo, and to update actions once the product is known. Guessing that it is gasoline (Guide 128) could understate a toxic or reactive hazard.

8. From a safe distance, you can see a placard on a tanker but cannot read any ID number. To find a guide, you should look in the ERG's:

   1. A. Green section, under the largest spill
   2. B. Yellow section, class 3
   3. C. Blue section, under the placard color
   4. D. Placard table in the white pages
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   Answer: D. Placard table in the white pages

   The white front pages include a table of placards, each matched to a guide number to use until the specific material is known. The yellow and blue sections need an ID number or a name.

9. In the ERG, the letter P after a guide number, such as 116P, warns that the material:

   1. A. Is a powder that must be kept dry in storage
   2. B. May polymerize violently when heated or contaminated
   3. C. Is a pesticide that needs atropine on the ambulance
   4. D. Must be shipped under pressure in a special cylinder
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   Answer: B. May polymerize violently when heated or contaminated

   A P means the material can undergo violent polymerization, a self-reacting chain reaction that can rupture its container, when heated or contaminated. Toxic-by-inhalation materials are marked by highlighting in the yellow and blue pages, not by a P.

10. The ERG's protective action distances for night are often larger than those for day because at night:

    1. A. Responders have a harder time reading placards at night
    2. B. Cooler air makes most chemicals more toxic
    3. C. Calmer air lets vapor travel farther before mixing
    4. D. More people are at home and need warning
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    Answer: C. Calmer air lets vapor travel farther before mixing

    At night, the air is usually more stable and winds are lighter, so a toxic cloud stays concentrated and travels farther before it disperses. Poorer visibility is a real problem at night, but it is not why the distances are longer.

11. In the ERG's green tables, a 'large spill' generally means a release of more than about:

    1. A. 208 L (55 gallons) from one package
    2. B. 20 L (5 gallons) from one package
    3. C. 1,000 L (264 gallons) from a tank
    4. D. 4,000 L (1,056 gallons) from a tank
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    Answer: A. 208 L (55 gallons) from one package

    A small spill is one that involves a single small package of up to about 208 L (55 US gallons), and a large spill involves more than that or many small packages. The distinction changes the isolation and protective action distances.

12. An orange panel on a tanker shows the number 1203 below a red placard. The number 1203 is the material's:

    1. A. DOT hazard class and division number
    2. B. Four-digit UN identification number
    3. C. NFPA 704 combined hazard rating
    4. D. CHEMTREC case reference number
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    Answer: B. Four-digit UN identification number

    Four-digit UN or NA numbers on placards or orange panels identify the specific material (1203 is gasoline) and are looked up in the ERG's yellow pages. The hazard class is the single digit at the bottom of the placard, not a four-digit number. NFPA 704 ratings are single digits from 0 to 4 shown on fixed-facility diamonds, not on vehicles. CHEMTREC is a hotline that responders call; it does not assign numbers displayed on vehicles.

13. After a truck crash, the driver is unconscious and a liquid is leaking from the trailer. The truck's shipping papers, called a bill of lading, are usually found:

    1. A. In a sealed tube welded under the trailer
    2. B. On the rear door of the trailer
    3. C. In the cab, within the driver's reach
    4. D. With the company's dispatch office
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    Answer: C. In the cab, within the driver's reach

    Federal rules require the bill of lading to be in the cab within the driver's reach or in a door pocket, so responders can find it. A tube on the trailer is a common guess, but papers kept there would be lost if the trailer were involved.

14. A freight train has derailed and a tank car is venting. The best source of shipping papers listing each car's contents is the:

    1. A. Train crew, who carry the consist or waybill
    2. B. Placard on the tank car closest to the engine
    3. C. Dangerous cargo manifest kept on the bridge
    4. D. Air bill carried by the train engineer
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    Answer: A. Train crew, who carry the consist or waybill

    On a train, the conductor or engineer carries the waybill or consist, which lists the hazardous materials in each car and their position in the train. A dangerous cargo manifest is the ship's document, kept on the bridge.

15. A worker splashed a chemical on his arm, and the plant supervisor hands you the safety data sheet. First-aid measures are found in:

    1. A. Section 2
    2. B. Section 8
    3. C. Section 11
    4. D. Section 4
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    Answer: D. Section 4

    The standardized 16-section safety data sheet places first-aid measures in section 4. Section 2 identifies the hazards, section 8 lists exposure limits and PPE, and section 11 gives detailed toxicology.

16. The section of a safety data sheet that lists exposure limits, such as the PEL and TLV, along with the protective equipment needed, is:

    1. A. Exposure controls and personal protection
    2. B. Hazards identification and classification
    3. C. Physical and chemical properties
    4. D. Accidental release measures
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    Answer: A. Exposure controls and personal protection

    Section 8 of the SDS gives occupational exposure limits and engineering controls and recommends gloves, eye protection, and respirators. Hazard identification (section 2) summarizes dangers but does not list the exposure limits.

17. A tanker leaking a clear liquid has a placard whose top half is white and bottom half is black, with the number 8 at the bottom. The material is a:

    1. A. Toxic poison
    2. B. Oxidizer
    3. C. Flammable liquid
    4. D. Corrosive
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    Answer: D. Corrosive

    DOT hazard class 8 is corrosives, and its placard is white over black. Poisons (class 6) are white with a skull and crossbones, oxidizers (class 5) are yellow, and flammable liquids (class 3) are red.

18. A blue placard reading 'Dangerous When Wet' (division 4.3) is on a truck in the rain. This material:

    1. A. Ignites on its own in air when dry
    2. B. Releases flammable gas when wet
    3. C. Releases oxygen to feed a fire
    4. D. Is a flammable solid ignited by friction
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    Answer: B. Releases flammable gas when wet

    Division 4.3 materials, such as sodium or calcium carbide, react with water to release flammable and sometimes toxic gases, so water can make the incident worse. Materials that ignite on their own in air are spontaneously combustible (division 4.2), flammable solids that can ignite from friction are division 4.1, and materials that release oxygen to feed a fire are oxidizers (division 5.1).

19. A delivery van with no placards has crashed and an odd odor is coming from its cargo. You should not assume it carries no hazmat because:

    1. A. Placards are removed during night driving
    2. B. Placards are required on tankers, not vans
    3. C. Many materials under 1,001 lb need no placard
    4. D. Vans are exempt from hazmat shipping rules
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    Answer: C. Many materials under 1,001 lb need no placard

    For most hazard classes, placards are required only when the total shipment weighs 1,001 lb (454 kg) or more, so smaller loads of hazmat may travel unplacarded. Only certain highly dangerous materials need a placard in any amount.

20. A semitrailer carries several different hazard classes and displays a placard that reads 'DANGEROUS.' This placard indicates:

    1. A. A material too toxic to be carried by rail
    2. B. A load that has already leaked on the road
    3. C. A mixed load of two or more hazard classes
    4. D. A radioactive load with a high dose rate
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    Answer: C. A mixed load of two or more hazard classes

    The DANGEROUS placard may be used for a load of two or more placarded hazard classes, so it does not identify the specific materials, and responders must check the shipping papers. It says nothing about which modes of transport are allowed. Placards describe what is on board, not whether anything has leaked. Radioactive Yellow-III loads need their own Class 7 placard and can never be covered by the DANGEROUS placard.

21. You cannot identify a leaking product and the driver is unavailable. CHEMTREC can help by:

    1. A. Sending a federal hazmat team to the scene
    2. B. Linking responders with shippers and experts
    3. C. Giving medical orders for the patient's care
    4. D. Taking over command of the hazmat incident
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    Answer: B. Linking responders with shippers and experts

    CHEMTREC is a 24-hour center funded by the chemical industry that helps identify products, gives hazard information, and contacts shippers and manufacturers. It advises responders by phone; it does not deploy teams, direct care, or take command.

22. A tank truck with a smooth cylindrical tank and rounded ends is leaking a vapor at a rest area. This tank design is typical of trucks carrying:

    1. A. Gasoline and other light fuel oils
    2. B. Strong corrosives such as sulfuric acid
    3. C. Dry bulk cement
    4. D. Liquefied gases such as propane
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    Answer: D. Liquefied gases such as propane

    MC-331 (DOT-331) pressure tankers have a rounded cylinder with hemispheric heads and carry liquefied gases such as propane and anhydrous ammonia. Gasoline travels in oval-shaped MC-306/DOT-406 tanks, and corrosives in small-diameter tanks with stiffening rings.

23. A label on a drum shows a pictogram of a skull and crossbones inside a red diamond. Under the Globally Harmonized System, this means:

    1. A. Acute toxicity that can be fatal
    2. B. A skin and eye irritant or sensitizer
    3. C. A long-term cancer hazard
    4. D. A corrosive to metal and skin
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    Answer: A. Acute toxicity that can be fatal

    GHS uses the skull and crossbones for acute toxicity (fatal or toxic). Irritants use an exclamation mark, cancer and other chronic hazards use the health hazard figure, and corrosives use the corrosion pictogram.

24. A factory worker tells you the gas leaking in the next room smells faint, so 'it can't be much.' You should explain that odor is unreliable because:

    1. A. Some chemicals harm below their odor threshold
    2. B. Faint odors mean the gas is mixing safely with air
    3. C. Most toxic gases have a strong and lasting smell
    4. D. Odor shows how close you are to the source
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    Answer: A. Some chemicals harm below their odor threshold

    Many chemicals can harm you at concentrations you cannot smell, and others dull the sense of smell (olfactory fatigue). A faint odor says nothing about how dangerous the concentration is.

25. The ERG is designed to guide responders mainly during the:

    1. A. Hospital phase, once the patients have been decontaminated
    2. B. Initial phase of an incident, about the first 30 minutes
    3. C. Cleanup phase, after the spill has been contained
    4. D. Planning phase, before an incident has occurred
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    Answer: B. Initial phase of an incident, about the first 30 minutes

    The ERG gives first responders quick guidance for the initial response phase, roughly the first 30 minutes, until more specific information and experts are available. It is not a cleanup manual or a detailed planning tool.