"This guide is geared to give medical facility managers a handy reference to ASHE and NFPA HazCom standards. It should help take the guess-work out of HazCom printing, so they can stick to the sign and label printing specifications most facilities in this industry now follow," said Eric Johnson, DuraLabel product manager at Graphic Products.
The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) relies on the National Fire Prevention Association to help establish HazCom standards for medical facilities. The NFPA is the world's leading advocate for fire prevention and develops, publishes, and disseminates more than 300 consensus codes and standards intended to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and other risks.
Medical facilities are required to use labels according to NFPA codes. The ASHE/NFPA Medical Labeling Guide provides labeling tips associated with the following codes from the NFPA’s handbook, NFPA 99: Standard for Health Care Facilities:
- NFPA 99 5.1.11 – Labels for Piping & Manifolds
- NFPA 99 5.1.11 – Labels for Valves
- NFPA 99 5.1.3.1.2 – Labels for Cylinders
- NFPA 99 5.1.3.1.5 – Door Signs for Gases Other than Oxygen & Medical Air
- NFPA 99 5.1.3.6 – Door Signs for Only Medical Air or Oxygen Gases
- NFPA 99 9.4.4.1 – Door Signs for Oxidizing Gases (Oxygen, Nitrous Oxide, etc.)
- NFPA 99 9.6.3.1 – Gas Equipment Use Labeling
- NFPA 99 11.7.2 – Labels for Flammable and Combustible Liquid Storage in the Laboratory
- NFPA 99 11.8.2 – Labels for Identification of Hazards in the Laboratory
"Medical facility managers should be critical about the signs and labels they use. HazCom signs should generally look very much like those used at most other medical facilities. Following national standards helps provide the right design specifications so recognition rates and safety are improved," said Johnson.
The ASHE/NFPA Medical Labeling Guide also includes basic information about the DuraLabel® LabPRO, a medical label and sign printer engineered and suited to assist medical professionals in their efforts to follow ASHE and NFPA codes in hospitals, laboratories and other medical facilities.
The ASHE/NFPA Medical Labeling Guide and the DuraLabel® LabPRO can be used together to solve labeling issues for the following applications:
- HazCom Labels & Signs - Specimen Labels
- HazMat Labels
- Medical & Gas Pipe Markers
- Radiation Labels
- Wire & Cable Markers
- Syringe Labels
- Identification Labels
- Bar Coded Labels
- Shelf Labels
The ASHE/NFPA Medical Labeling Guide is available free from Graphic Products. It may be downloaded from its web site at http://www.graphicproducts.com/
Graphic Products is a leading label printer and supplies dealer. It has been supplying industrial label and sign printers and supplies to industry since 1970. It is the manufacturer of the DuraLabel brand of printers that include the handheld DuraLabel 2000 up through the wide format DuraLabel 9000, and it also carry a wide variety of labelers made by other manufacturers. In addition to DuraLabel, it stocks label printer brands such as Brady, Kroy, Brother, K-Sun, Dymo and Varitronics. It also stock supplies for discontinued label printers. Graphic Products specializes in fast, same-day shipping to meet its customers’ just-in-time delivery requirements. The Graphic Products Web site is located at: http://www.graphicproducts.com/
