Presenter: Guy Colonna, David Phelan, James Vigerust, Ronald Keefer, Maureen Ruskin and Nancy Pearce

NFPA 704, Standard System for the Identification of the Hazards of Materials for Emergency Response, has been providing emergency responders with a simple, readily recognizable system of marking chemicals since it was officially adopted in 1961. The NFPA 704 system is used both nationally and internationally. The implementation of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) worldwide and the more recent adoption of GHS by OSHA have caused concern among emergency responders about the future of NFPA 704. This session is a panel discussion designed to present an overview of changes to OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom 2012), to point out the differences between the GHS and NFPA 704 labeling systems, and to discuss the potential impact on emergency responders.