Last week was National Fire Prevention Week, which commemorates the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that killed an estimated 300 people, left 100,000 homeless, and destroyed more than 17,000 structures. In honor of Fire Prevention Week, Zurich presents tips to prevent factory fires.
A factory fire can spell devastating consequences for a company and its employees. A fire at a factory or manufacturing facility can result in loss of life, injured workers, loss of wages from a factory shutdown, and production downtime. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), property losses at U.S. factories total nearly $1billion each year.
Factory fires can be caused by three common factors: hot work, combustible dust, or hydraulic fluid leaks. "Hot work" is defined as any process that can be a source of ignition when flammable material is present, such as welding. Zurich recommends companies don't use hot work if cold methods can be used instead. In instances where hot work is used, Zurich advises to remove combustible and flammable materials from the area and ventilate flammable vapors.
Make sure combustible dust does not accumulate to more than 1/32 of an inch. Use cleaning methods that prevent dust clouds from going up
into the air. For hydraulic fluids, make sure to inspect and properly maintain equipment to prevent a leak from occurring. (Click the chart on the right for more tips.)
Even with proper workplace prevention, accidents can still happen.
5 tips for factory owners to prepare a building and its occupants for the possibility of a fire.
1. Gather information.
It is important to note any unoccupied floors in the building, get alarm system details, identify hydrant availability, get information on the fire protection systems as well as heating and cooling systems, and learn the quantities and locations of hazardous materials or machinery. Make sure to list all tenants and get descriptions of their businesses, hours of operation and when they are on site, their location, contact information, and if they have employees with specific rescue needs.
2. Document and publish information.
Develop written fire plans that are easy to understand, accessible, and regularly updated. Include the information gathered on the previous page, including property and tenant data, as well as maps, diagrams, and drawings that reflect the building's construction, the surrounding property's configuration, or tenant dwellings. Include information like blueprints, floor plans, and aerial photographs of the building showing its size, height, and fire-related walls. File the information and
publish it in binders. Make the plan electronically accessible on your server or in the cloud as well.
3. Host building walk-throughs.
Invite the local fire department to visit the building periodically, especially in areas predominantly served by volunteer firefighters where officers frequently change. Letting the fire department get direct knowledge of a building may help save lives and minimize damage in the event of a fire. Inspections and walk-throughs of complex buildings help familiarize current fire officers with your building's layout and could be helpful.
4. Practice, practice, practice.
Conduct regular fire drills to inform employees of efficient and effective exit strategies in the event of a fire. Employees should be aware of the exits in their areas and how to safely reach them when they
need to evacuate the premises. Employees should meet at a pre-determined location after evacuating the building in order to take a head count.
5. Assign tasks.
Appoint building fire wardens and assign them with evacuating building occupants in the event of a fire. Make sure to appoint specific people who are likly to be in the building at all hours to notify the
fire department in the event of an emergency. In these roles, owners and occupants are just as vital to a pre-fire plan as fire departments.
Fire TriangleFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search The fire triangle. The fire triangle or combustion triangle is a simple model for understanding the ingredients necessary for most fires.[1] It has been replaced in the fire fighting and protection industry partially by the fire tetrahedron (see below).
The triangle illustrates a fire requires three elements: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen). The fire is prevented or extinguished by removing any one of them. A fire naturally occurs when the elements are combined in the right mixture. Without sufficient heat, a fire cannot begin, and it cannot continue. Heat can be removed by the application of a substance which reduces the amount of heat available to the fire reaction. This is often water, which requires heat for phase change from water to steam. Introducing sufficient quantities and types of powder or gas in the flame reduces the amount of heat available for the fire reaction in …
Being involved in helping protect the wood products industries from fires and explosions for the last 3 decades, we have seen first hand the results of many of these types of fires - and the lack of understanding of causes of combustible dust related fires. As such a complex subject, it is not often someone from the press understands and reports accurately on the causes of industrial combustible dust related fires. This is a fine article from Gordon Hoekstra at the Vancouver Sun. It also shines a light on the need for stakeholders to understand the combustible dust problem in these mills, as well as the solutions - efficient dust collection and storage, spark detection, fire suppression, explosion protection, housekeeping etc.
Sawdust fuelled most sawmill fires in last decade
Explosion warning should have been issued: expert By Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver SunJuly 26, 2012
Sawdust, wood shavings and chips, which are suspected to have played a part in two recent deadly sawmill e…
NFPA Introduces NFPA 652 Combustible Dust Standard July 27, 2015
Every year, destructive and deadly dust-related fires and explosions affect a wide range of industries around the world. In the United States alone, 50 combustible dust accidents occurred between 2008
and 2012. To manage the dust-related fire, flash fire, and explosion hazards in industries that use dust collection and handling equipment, or have processes that may generate combustible dust, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) introduces the first-time NFPA 652: Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust.
This important new Standard serves a wide variety of industries including chemical, wood processing, metals, and agricultural.
In addition to providing new general requirements for managing combustible dust fire and explosion hazards, NFPA 652 directs users to NFPA's appropriate industry- or commodity-specific standards, such as NFPA 61: Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosi…
Factory fires can be caused by three common factors: hot work, combustible dust, or hydraulic fluid leaks. "Hot work" is defined as any process that can be a source of ignition when flammable material is present, such as welding. Zurich recommends companies don't use hot work if cold methods can be used instead. In instances where hot work is used, Zurich advises to remove combustible and flammable materials from the area and ventilate flammable vapors.
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