It’s not a native application (getting to know XCode is going to be harder!), but a so-called “web application” for the iPhone. A few times I’ve been at RTAs involving trucks carrying hazardous chemicals, and other times it’s out of curiosity that I would like to know what exactly is the well-protected container wrapped in warning labels carrying when such a truck drives by. If you want to dive right in without going through the introduction, browse your iPhone to http://tech.am/hazmat - if you save it as a web clip on your desktop you will get a nice orange flaming icon with it.


Hazardous chemicals and their classification

 
To cover the need for a unified system to classify and identify dangerous goods in transport, a unified number system was devised and adopted by the United Nations and is now recognized by a number of countries, including those in the European Union and the United States. The commonly used label on trucks, train carts, and other containers is an orange placard with two numbers - the top is the Hazard Identification Number (HIN), and the bottom is the UN Number, uniquely identifying the substance. It looks like this:

In this particular example, the HIN is 33, meaning highly flammable liquid (the same number repeated indicates an increased danger), and the substance as the UN number 1203, which corresponds to motor spirit, gasoline or petrol. For example, diesel is not as flammable as gasoline (lower flashpoint) and carries a HIN of 30.