FIRE HAZARDS AND CONTROL

Chapter 15 covers fire prevention on construction sites and how to ensure that people are properly protected if fire does occur. Each year UK fire brigades attend over 41 000 fires at work in which about 40 people are killed and over 2500 are injured. Fire and explosions at work account for about 2% of the major injuries reported under RIDDOR. There are over 4000 construction fires annually and about 100 of them cause over 50 000 of damage and usually result In complete dislocation of project schedules. Some like the National Westminster Tower affect large numbers of people. In this case about 600 workers were at risk when the fire broke out. 

Since the introduction of the Fire Services Act of 1947, the fire authorities have had the responsibility for fighting fires in all types of premises. In 1971, the Fire Precautions Act gave the fire authorities control over certain fire procedures, means of escape and basic fire protection equipment through the drawing up and issuing of Fire Certificates in certain categories of building. The Fire Certification was mainly introduced to combat a number of serious industrial fires that had occurred. 

In 2000 the Fire Safety Advisory Board was established to reform the fire legislation to simplify, rationalize and consolidate existing legislation. It would provide for a risk based approach to fire safety allowing more efficient, effective enforcement by the fire and rescue service and other enforcing authorities. 

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO) SIN. 1541 was made on 7 June 2005. This chapter has been written on the assumption that the Order will be in force in October 2006. A summary of the Order has been included in Chapter 20. The Fire Precautions Act 1971 is repealed and The Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 are revoked by the Order. The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 are to be taken within the revised CDM regulations in April 2007. The five regulations in CHSW are likely to be removed. 

The RRFSO reforms the law relating to fire safety in non-domestic premises. The main emphasis of the changes is to move towards fire prevention. 

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In many ways the fire hazards in industrial facilities are the same as in other facilities. One major difference is the quantity of materials, fuels, and power present in one location. Each kind of operation and process presents particular fire prevention and protection problems. This text cannot discuss in detail each operation, process and kind of material. A few operations, principles and procedures give examples. One should consult specific references to find out more about particular fire hazards and controls. 

For warehouse storage, codes group commodities that have similar fire hazard and control characteristics into classes. Standards specify the storage height for commodity piles because the height of materials affects fire growth, intensify, and control. 

Major workplace fire hazards and control procedure will be discussed with the local fire departmenfs authorized personnel to ensure better control of risks. This information along with the aforementioned procedure will be discussed with all personnel in the safety meeting. 

Thiophene and 3-methylthiophene are Hsted on the TSCA chemical substances inventory. Thiophene is regulated as a hazardous material under OSHA and also regulated under the Clean Air Act, Section 110, 40 CFR 60.489, but there are no exposure limits or controls set for 3-methylthiophene. Both materials are regulated under sections 311/312 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, 1986 (SARA), as materials with an acute health and fire hazard, and under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as ignitable hazardous wastes (DOOl). 

Understanding the fire hazards and determining how they should be controlled. 

A fire risk assessment should be documented to provide a clear overall picture of the possible fire hazards and the role safety systems play in hazard control and mitigation. Also, a fire risk assessment should be maintained evergreen during the lifecycle of the facility to ensure ongoing management of fire hazards. 

CFR1910.38 4.2.1 Employee Emergency Plans and Fire Prevention Plans. Maintain a list of the major workplace fire hazards and their proper handling and storage procedures potential ignition sources and their control procedures and the type of fire protection equipment or systems that can control a fire involving the identified hazards. 

There are also fire protection specialists. They do not have degrees in engineering or fire protection engineering, but have developed extensive knowledge about fire hazards and their control. The professional membership organization for fire protection engineers and specialists is the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). 

There are many lire protection problems in warehouses. One should refer to the NFPA National Fire Code and other sources for more details about storing particular materials and fire protection in warehouses. Fire protection consideration includes type of commodity, ease of ignition, rate of fire spread, and rate of heat produced. Other factors are quantities of material stored, how they are stored, height of storage, and accessibility. Distance to other commodities can also be important. For example, fuels must be separate fiom oxidizers. All these characteristics help determine the fire hazards and suitable designs and controls. 

For hazardous chemicals that float on water and vaporize, and to which existing devices for oil recovery apply, polyurethane foam can be applied in the float and mix. Devices for recovery of sorbate-loaded floating polyurethane can be readily applied, if fire hazards are controlled. 

Class IV lasers are high-power lasers (cw 500 mW or the diffuse reflection limit) and are hazardous to view under any condition (directly or diffusely scattered), and are a potential fire hazard and a skin hazard. Significant controls are required of Class IV laser facilities. 

The best way to prevent and control fires in the workplace is to institute a facility Fire Safety Program. Safety experts agree that the best way to reduce the possibility of fire in the workplace is prevention. For the facility safety official this begins with developing a fire prevention plan, which must be in writing and must list fire hazards and fire controls and specify the control jobs and personnel responsible and emergency actions to be taken. More specifically, in accordance with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.38, the elements that make up the plan must include the following ... 

The principles of fire protection, prevention, and control are designed to provide protection from industrial fires. Process technicians are required to participate in yearly training during which technicians are educated about fire hazards and the steps to take to eliminate them. These training sessions also Include hands-on practice in extinguishing fires. 

The process of identifying fire hazards and evaluating the level of risk (including to whom and how many are affected) arising from the hazards, taking into account any existing risk control measures. 

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