Industrial Fire Prevention

ISHN 2015 Article Video Player Cal Ripken brings a new safety message to ISHNtv : On an average day in America, there are over 200 workplace fires causing hundreds of fatalities and thousands more injuries. In this video Cal Ripken, Jr. gives you some tips to help you prevent workplace fires and ensure the safety of your workers. Brought to you by Northern Safety , which offers a full line of safety and industrial products. Here: ISHN 2015 Article Video Player

From Northern Safety News & Information - Northern Safety Co., Inc. Portable fire extinguisher basics Fires can be dangerous and costly, and a portable fire extinguisher can be an effective tool to help control or put out early-stage fires. Fire extinguishers are classified by the type of fire they will extinguish and include: • Class A: Water, used for fires involving ordinary combustibles such as paper, cloth, wood, rubber, and many plastics • Class B: CO2, used for fires involving flammable liquids such as oils, gas, some paints, lacquers, grease, and solvents • Class C: Dry chemical, used for fires involving electrical equipment such as wiring, fuse boxes, energized electrical machinery, computers, or other electrical items • Class ABC: Multi-purpose, can be used for most fires involving ordinary combustibles, flammable liquids, or electrical equipment • Class D: Used for fires involving powders, flakes, or shavings of metals such as magnesium, ti...

From Hemming Group Ltd New free Post-Blast Response training video from the Firefighters Support Foundation Published:  25 November, 2015 The Firefighters Support Foundation’s (FSF) newest training program,  Post-Blast Response  is now available free of charge. Presented by August Vernon, an emergency management subject matter expert, the 32-minute video accompanies a 47-slide PowerPoint presentation. The video explains why post-blast response is an important subject for firefighters, EMTs, search and rescue, and other emergency management  personnel.  It describes the actions and tactics to be employed immediately after the blast is called in, while arriving on scene, during the first critical minutes, and throughout what will certainly be a  lengthy investigation. ‘This program also describes ways in which various the public safety agencies need to work together and describes critical elements of the ICS system that will play a key role,’ sai...

Report Finds 85 Fatalities in The Chemicals Industry Last Year Fri, 11/06/2015 - 3:38pm Andy Szal, Digital Reporter A British chemical engineering group said this week that serious accidents in the U.S. chemical and processing industries resulted in 85 fatalities and more than 600 serious injuries in 2014. The Institution of Chemical Engineers, a professional membership organization, surveyed media coverage of explosions, fires and other incidents in the U.S. last year. The analysis found 228 separate incidents in chemical manufacturing and a number of related industries, including mining, refining, food processing, biotechnology, wastewater treatment, and oil and gas exploration and production. "Many of these incidents commanded just a few column inches, but there are 75 reports that detail fatalities," said Andy Furlong, the group's policy director. "Each one is a grim human tragedy that could have been avoided, had the appropriate safety ...

National Fire Protection Association Blog NFPA 652 - new combustible dust standard Susan Bershad is a Senior Chemical Engineer in the Industrial and Chemical Engineering division at NFPA® and is also the staff liaison for the Combustible Dust project . Susan has been working diligently on NFPA 652 which has the following scope: “This standard shall provide the basic principles of and requirements for identifying and managing the fire and explosion hazards of combustible dusts and particulate solids.” I had a few minutes to talk to Susan about the challenges and importance of the document and about a training event she is hosting on December 3 about NFPA 652 . Q: What was your biggest technical challenge with updating the NFPA 652? A: The biggest challenge for the committee with NFPA 652 was identifying those requirements that are fundamental to all facilities and processes where combustible dust hazards are possible. Q: How is NFPA 652 different from NFPA 654 ...

The OSHA Defense Report OSHA Law Updates from the OSHA Practice Group at Conn Maciel Carey   Breaking News – OSHA Max Penalties Set to Nearly Double November 9, 2015 By Eric J. Conn , Chair of Conn Maciel Carey’s national OSHA Practice Group For as long as I have been practicing OSHA law (more than 15 years now), four things have remained constant: The maximum per violation penalty that OSHA has been permitted by the OSH Act to assign to Serious violations has been $7,000, and for Repeat or Willful violations it has remained $70,000; The Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA makes an annual pilgrimage to the Hill where he or she pounds on the table and demands that Congress enact OSHA reform legislation to increase the maximum penalties OSHA can assign (with common refrains like: “employers can be fined more for mistreating cattle on federal lands than for allowing an employee fatality!”); There has been one iteration or another of such reform ...

From Woodworking Network Was Extra Fine Wood Dust Factor in Mill Fires and Explosions? By Bill Esler October 10, 2015 | 8:17 pm EDT Aerial photograph of the east side of the Babine sawmill. The large yellow arrow indicates the easterly direction of the explosion’s  expansion from the point of origin. Source: WorkSafeBC incident  report, January 2012. BURNABY, BC - A trend to finer wood dust - resulting from dryer beetle killed wood and finer-kerf saw blades - may have contributed to a series of fires and plant explosions in British Columbia mills and wood products factories. A 2012 internal memo from WorkSafeBC, released through a Freedom of Information request, also predicted industry resistance to wood dust control rules  "if an enforcement strategy is pursued at this time." WorkSafeBC circulated an internal document stating the agency was concerned that an enforcement strategy to address wood dust in sawmill...