Hypothesis for Testing on Fire Safety and Regulations - Research Paper Example

Table of contents Table of contents 1 Introduction 2 Statement of the problem 3 Objectives of fire safety 3 Hypothesis for testing on fire safety and regulations 4 Significance of fire safety at work place 4 Literature review on fire safety 5 The fire safety order 2005 6 Principles of fire extinguishing 7 Types of portable fire extinguishers 7 Water extinguishers 8 Water fire extinguishers with added additives 8 Form fire extinguishers 8 Carbon dioxide extinguishers 8 Wet chemical extinguishers 8 Fire risk assessment 8 Information collected through fire risk assessment 8 Steps involved in fire risk assessment 9 Building regulation act on fire safety 9 Primary objectives of building regulation act 9 Mechanical and electrical standards of a building 10 Building regulations act and spread of fire 10 Preventing spread of fires in the building 10 Preventing spread of fires between building 11 Precautions in the event of fire outbreak 11 Safety practices toward prevention of fires at work place 11 Conclusion 12 Recommendations 12 Bibliography 12 Introduction Incidents of fires are very common in the manufacturing industries (Buckle & Mars, 2000). Many fires are caused by failure of employees to follow safety rules and regulations concerning handling of inflammable chemical substances (Frangi, Fontana, & Knobloch, 2008). Improperly maintained gas cylinders that are vulnerable to gas leakage are a source of many outbreaks of fires in the work place. Loose plugs and presence of wires without insulators can lead into outbreak of fires (Onyango, 1984). Fire outbreaks in manufacturing companies spread fast if the building is well ventilated. Droughts of wind can increase the rate of spread of the fire if there are waste products that have been accumulated in the premise due to strict laws on disposal of waste products (Onyango, 1984). Fire outbreaks at workplace lead into destruction of property, raw materials used in production process and products that have been produced. Fires can bring down a building. Fires lead into deaths and disabling of employees (Brunacini, 1991:pp.74-76). Fire outbreaks lead into huge loses including loss of income to employees, decreased standards of living of the employees and a bad picture to the company. The insurance company that had insured the premise also suffers through compensation and increase in fire outbreaks may make the insurance companies to increase insurance costs of workplaces (Flin, 1995a: 7-15). Statement of the problem Many manufacturing companies don’t carry out fire risk assessment periodically hence the company is not able to determine its position of fire risk. Many employees in manufacturing industries don’t have enough knowledge on fire safety. The workplace doesn’t conform to tenets of fire safety order 2005. Some buildings don’t meet requirements of building regulation act. There are no installed automatic smoke alarms to warn employees in case of fire outbreak or installed water sprinkler system in place. Other buildings don’t have wet or dry standpipes. Some buildings have emergency exit channels that don’t have working lighting system. Some buildings have staircases that have no lights or the lights are not in working conditions. Yet others have installed smoke alarms but their batteries have no power to run them. Objectives of fire safety To analyze importance of carrying out fire risk assessment at the workplace To analyze guidelines that a company should satisfy according to fire safety order 2005 To analyze building regulation act and how adherence to building regulation act could help in fire safety To analyze importance of training employees on fire safety To analyze fire safety measures that a workplace should satisfy to manage fire risks. Hypothesis for testing on fire safety and regulations Routine fire risk assessment ensures the fire safety personnel is able to implement measures that make it possible to prevent outbreaks of fire. If a manufacturing company is able to comply with fire safety order 2005, the efficiency of production would be high hence there would be no accumulation of waste products that can speed spread of fire. If the premise satisfies building regulation act, there would be automatic water sprinkler in place to help in containing the fire and installed automatic smoke alarms to warn employees of outbreak of fire. The premise would also have clear and well lit emergency exit channels and staircases. The building would also have entry points of fire rescue teams to access the building. There would also have wet or dry standpipes in place. All these mechanical and electrical methods of fire safety would conform to minimum requirements of a premise according to guidelines of building and regulation act. If the employees are adequately trained on fire fighting and fire safety, they would be in a position to know which fires they can manage. They would also have knowledge of fire safety and practice safety regulations required in handling inflammable substances. Significance of fire safety at work place Knowledge on fire safety ensures: Workers have recommended training on fire safety and understand safety regulations for handling inflammable chemical substances. Employees understand emergency exit channels and staircases in the event of fire. Fire risk assessment is done periodically to provide information on safety standards of the work place. Employees understand which fire extinguishers to use for what type of fire and risk factors involved. The company conforms to fire safety order 2005 Ensures automatic smoke alarms are checked on their performance and their batteries are replaced Literature review on fire safety Many manufacturing companies are not efficient in their production processes (Muli, Kamau, & Maina, 1999). They produce a lot of waste products that are not put into good use. This leads into accumulation of waste products that can help to spread fire in the premise. The company may accumulate the waste materials due to harsh penalties imposed to manufacturing companies by municipal councils that would want to implement Kyoto protocol on environment management to combat greenhouse effect (Paton, 1996). Their chemical waste products may also require special treatment and this may be expensive. Municipal council by-laws by be against such a practice as it is against sustainable ecosystem and balance of nature. This requirement also stressed by fire safety order 2005 requires companies to be efficient in their production process. The company resolves to accumulating its waste products with a defensive statement that they are working on modalities to set up a secondary industry that will use the waste materials as its raw materials. These waste materials increase spread of fire (Robinson, 1998). A great percentage of fires in the work place are due to electrical faults resulting from loose plugs or wires without insulators that come into contact and cause a short circuit. Presence of waste products in the vicinity fuels spread of the fire (Buckle & Mars, 2000). Lack of routine maintenance of gas cylinders lead into leaking of the gas. Many start-up companies that are under financial constraints buy second hand gas cylinders for their use. These gas cylinders may have malfunctioning safety valves that may lead into leakage of gas (Onyango, 1984). This leads into fire outbreaks. Poor handling of chemicals lead into outbreak of fires. Inflammable chemical substances like methyl spirits or all ethers and chlorinated gaseous chemicals like chloroform have a very low boiling point and vaporize at low temperatures. Poor handling of these chemicals leads into outbreaks of fires. Production of the same chemicals requires high standards of safety (Paton, 1996). Lack of sufficient training on fire safety contributes to outbreaks of fires. The employees should have adequate knowledge of fire safety, handling of fire extinguishers, The fire safety order 2005 The regulatory reform (Paton, 1996) also known as fire safety order 2005 requires manufacturing firms to be efficient in their production process. The fire safety order 2005 advocates for improved efficiency in the production process. This ensures production firms produce fewer waste products. Accumulation of waste products can make efforts of putting off fires hard. The person-in-charge should carry out fire risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce chances of reducing risks of fire outbreaks. Principles of fire extinguishing The principles of fire extinguishing lie in reducing amount of oxygen present for burning (Robinson 1998). Oxygen is active gas that is used for combustion and if its supply is limited, burning cannot be supported. The principle of using carbon dioxide is aimed at increasing partial pressure of carbon dioxide (Patel 1991) and reducing partial pressure of oxygen. Classes of fires A = freely burning materials, such as wood, paper, textiles and fabric B = Flammable liquids, such as petrol, diesel and oils C = Flammable gases such as butane, methane and propane D = Flammable metals such as magnesium, potassium and sodium E = Electrical hazards such as computers and switchgear F = Cooking oils and fats Types of portable fire extinguishers Water extinguishers They are ideal for class A fires. Water fire extinguishers with added additives Additive minimizes water surface tension. Form fire extinguishers It’s good for flammable liquid fires. Carbon dioxide extinguishers It’s suitable for electrical fire and flammable gases. Wet chemical extinguishers They are effective for fat fryer fires. Fire risk assessment Fire risk assessment is a routine exercise at a work place that shows the position of the workplace to risks of fire outbreaks. Fire risk assessment report helps in determination of areas that needs repairs (Brunacini, 1991). Information collected through fire risk assessment Fire risk assessment shows if Employees know safety measures to take if there is outbreak of fire. Mechanical and electrical methods of fire control are in place There are emergency exit channels If employer has implemented fire safety order 2005 Employees are trained on fire safety Steps involved in fire risk assessment Identify risks and hazards Identify departments at risk Evaluation of risks Recording findings and implementing action Reviewing fire risk assessment Building regulation act on fire safety The building regulation act provides that a work place should satisfy the following parameter: Operating lighting system in the staircases and emergency exit channels that are powered by a generator enclosed in a fire proof case. Operating automatic smoke alarms and water sprinkler system Emergency channels with directional signs if staircases are risky to use Installed wet or dry standpipes Primary objectives of building regulation act The erected building should provide the required fire safety precautions for the users of the building and have safer access by fire fighters It should be equipped with pipes that fire fighters can connect water pipes to help in extinguishing the fire. The building should meet minimum required standards for the insurance firm to insure it against risks of fire outbreaks. Mechanical and electrical standards of a building The building should be constructed in such a way that in the event of fire outbreak: Occupants get warned and take recommended action and it’s resistant to momentary collapse (Ronald W, 2003) to enable users to escape to a safer place before it finally collapses. This also gives evacuators time to evacuate persons in the building. Building regulations act and spread of fire Building should be constructed in such a way that they minimize spread of fire in the building and between the buildings. Preventing spread of fires in the building The building should be equipped with automatic water sprinkler system. These help to put off fire. The building should be fitted with wet or dry standpipes. The building should have automatic doors that can close themselves in order to reduce ventilation that can increase the rate of spread of fire. Materials should not be packed or accumulated in one place. Preventing spread of fires between building The distance between the buildings should be enough to prevent possible darting flames from one building setting fire in the adjacent building. The minimum distance is determined by carrying out flame dart tests to determine the distance the flame can extend. This distance of darting flame provides information on where the other building should be set. Precautions in the event of fire outbreak The users shouldn’t use lifts to escape (Onyango 1984) but should follow escape channels or use stairs. Users should get out immediately after warning and use exit routes in the building and should only put off small fires with fire extinguishers. Safety practices toward prevention of fires at work place All inflammable chemical substances and materials should be handled according to manufacturer’s safety guidelines (Muli, Kamau and Maina 1999). Chemical based fires shouldn’t be extinguished with water because water is a chemical substance in itself and can trigger an exothermic reaction that can lead into production of more heat or lead into explosion. Electrical extensions cords should be inspected for damages, exposed live wires, loose plugs should be repaired and naked wires appropriately sealed. Smoke alarms should be frequently tested and their batteries replaced accordingly. Automatic sprinkler system should be operational. Conclusion The workplace structures should comply with building regulation act and have up-to-date fire risk assessment report in place to reduce chances of fire outbreaks. The management of the companies should comply with fire safety order 2005. Recommendations Premises should have means of escape to facilitate movement of users from the building to a safer place and employees be trained on fire fighting Smoke alarms and automatic sprinkler system should be installed and functioning. Electrical appliances should be in their recommended operational standards and their installation and inspection be done by a certified specialist Fire risk assessment should be carried out often to enable timely action on areas of interests and the building should satisfy recommendations of building regulation act. Bibliography Brunacini, A. (1991). Command Safety: A Wake up Call. National Fire Protection Association Journal , pp. 74-76. Buckle, P., & Mars, a. S. 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