Week 12,13

Lecture
Workplace hazards and risk control

Abdul Qadir
NEDUET
Fire safety
 Classification of fire

 Fires are classified in accordance with British Standard EN 2:1992

Classification of Fires. For all practical purposes there are FIVE main classes
of fire – A, B, C, D and F, plus fires involving electrical equipment.

Class A – Fires which involve solid materials such as wood, paper,

cardboard, textiles, furniture and plastics where there are normally glowing
embers during combustion.
Such fires are extinguished by cooling, which is achieved using water.
Class B – Fires which involve liquids or liquefied solids such as paints, oils
or fats.
These can be further subdivided into:
Class B1 – Fires which involve liquids that are soluble in water such as
methanol. They can be extinguished by carbon dioxide, dry powder, water
spray, light water and vaporising liquid;
Class B2 – Fires which involve liquids not soluble in water, such as petrol
and oil. They can be extinguished by using foam, carbon dioxide, dry
powder, light water and vaporising liquid.
 Classification of fire

Class C – Fires which involve gases such as natural gas, or liquefied gases
such as butane or propane.
They can be extinguished using foam or dry powder in conjunction with
water to cool any containers involved or nearby.
Class D – Fires which involve metals such as aluminium or magnesium.
Special dry powder extinguishers are required to extinguish these fires,
which may contain powdered graphite or talc.
Class F – Fires which involve high-temperature cooking oils or fats in large
catering establishments or restaurants.
Electrical fires – Fires involving electrical equipment or circuitry do not
constitute a fire class on their own, as electricity is a source of ignition that
will feed a fire until switched off or isolated.
 But there are some pieces of equipment that can store, within capacitors,
lethal voltages even when isolated.
Extinguishers specifically designed for electrical use like carbon dioxide or
dry powder units should always be used for this type of fire hazard.
 Principles of heat transmission and fire spread
Fire transmits heat in several ways, which need to be understood in order to
prevent, plan escape from, and fight fires.
 Convection – Hot air becomes less dense and rises, drawing in cold new air
to fuel the fire with more oxygen. The heat is transmitted upwards at sufficient
intensity to ignite combustible materials in the path of the very hot products
of combustion and flames. This is particularly important inside buildings or
other structures where the shape may effectively form a chimney for the fire.
 Conduction – This is the transmission of heat through a material with
sufficient intensity to melt or destroy the material and ignite combustible
materials which come into contact or close to a hot section. Metals like
copper, steel.
 Radiation - Often in a fire, the direct transmission of heat through the
emission of heat waves from a surface can be so intense that adjacent
materials are heated sufficiently to ignite. A metal surface glowing red-hot
would be typical of a severe radiation hazard in a fire.
Direct burning - This is the effect of combustible materials catching fire
through direct contact with flames which causes fire to spread, in the same
way that lighting an open fire, with a range of readily combustible fuels,
results in its spread within a grate.
Principles of heat transmission
Smoke spread in buildings
Figure 12.12 (a) Before fire risk assessment; (b) after fire risk
assessment
Various storage arrangements for highly
flammable liquids
 Surface Spread of Fire
In the UK, a material is classified as having a surface in one of
the following categories:

 Class 0 – Non Combustible Materials;

Materials suitable for circulation spaces and escape routes
Class 1 – Surface of very low flame spread;
Materials suitable for use in all rooms but not on escape route
Class 2 – Surface of low flame spread;
Class 3 – Surface of medium flame spread;
Materials suitable for use in rooms of less than 30 m2
Class 4 – Surface of rapid flame spread.
Automatic Fire Detection
 Extinguishing media
There are four main methods of extinguishing fires, which are
explained as follows:

 Cooling – reducing the ignition temperature by taking the heat

out of the fire – using water to limit or reduce the temperature.
 Smothering – limiting the oxygen available by smothering and
preventing the mixture of oxygen and flammable vapour – by the
use of foam or a fire blanket.
 Starving – limiting the fuel supply – by removing the source of
fuel by switching off electrical power, isolating the flow of
flammable liquids or removing wood and textiles, etc.
 Chemical reaction – by interrupting the chain of combustion
and combining the hydrogen atoms with chlorine atoms in the
hydrocarbon chain, for example with Halon extinguishers. (Halons
have generally been withdrawn because of their detrimental
effect on the environment, as ozone-depleting agents.)
 Advantages and limitations of the main extinguishing media
Fire extinguishers are all red with 5% of the
cylindrical area taken up with the colour code. The
colour code (band) denotes on which class of fire
the extinguisher can be used.
 Water extinguishers (red band)
This type of extinguisher can only be used on Class
A fires. They allow the user to direct water onto a
fire from a considerable distance.
Water extinguishers with additives (red band)
A 9 litre water extinguisher can be quite heavy and
some water extinguishers with additives can
achieve the same rating, although they are smaller
and therefore considerably lighter. This type of
extinguisher is not suitable for use on live electrical
equipment, liquid or metal fires.
 Advantages and limitations of the main extinguishing media
 This type of extinguisher can be used on
Class A or B fires and is particularly suited
to extinguishing liquid fires such as petrol
and diesel. They should not be used on
free-flowing liquid fires unless the
operator has been specially trained, as
these have the potential to rapidly spread
the fire to adjacent material. This type of
extinguisher is not suitable for deep-fat
fryers or chip pans. They should not be
used on electrical or metal fires.
 Advantages and limitations of the main extinguishing media
Powder extinguishers (blue band)

This type of extinguisher can be used on

most classes of fire and achieve a good
‘knock down’ of the fire. They can be used
on fires involving electrical equipment but
will almost certainly render that
equipment useless.
Because they do not cool the fire
appreciably, it can re-ignite. Powder
extinguishers can create a loss of visibility
and may affect people who have
breathing problems and are not generally
suitable for confined spaces. They should
not be used on metal fires.
 Advantages and limitations of the main extinguishing media
Carbon dioxide extinguishers (black
band)
This type of extinguisher is particularly
suitable for fires involving electrical
equipment as they will extinguish a fire
without causing any further damage
(except in the case of some electronic
equipment, for example computers). As
with all fires involving electrical
equipment, the power should be
disconnected if possible. These
extinguishers should not be used on
metal fires.
 Advantages and limitations of the main extinguishing media
Wet chemical – class ‘F’ extinguishers
(Yellow Band)

This type of extinguisher is particularly

suitable for commercial catering
establishments with deep-fat fryers. The
intense heat in the fluid generated by fat
fires means that when standard foam or
carbon dioxide extinguishers stop
discharging, re-ignition tends to occur.
Wet chemical extinguishers starve the fire
of oxygen by sealing the burning fluid,
which prevents flammable vapour
reaching the atmosphere.
 Portable fire-fighting equipment
The most useful form of fire-fighting equipment for general fire
risks is the water-type portable extinguisher or suitable alternative.
One such extinguisher should be provided for around each 200 m2
of floor space with a minimum of one per floor. If each floor has a
hose reel, which is known to be in working order and of sufficient
length for the floor it serves, there may be no need for Water-type
extinguishers to be provided.
 Areas of special risks involving the use of oil, fats or electrical
equipment may need carbon dioxide, dry powder or other types of
extinguisher.
 Fire extinguishers should be sited on exit routes, preferably near
to exit doors or, where they are provided for specific risks, near to
the hazards they protect.
 All Halon fire extinguishers should have been decommissioned
as from December 2003 and disposed of safely.
 Fixed fire-fighting equipment – sprinkler installations

Various sprinkler heads designed to fit into a high-level water pipe system and
spray water at different angles onto a fire below
 Evacuation of a workplace - Means of escape in case of fire
a) General
In making a decision about the adequacy of means of escape,
the following points should be considered:
 People need to be able to turn away from a fire as they
escape or be able to pass a fire when it is very small.
 If a single-direction escape route is in a corridor, the corridor
may need to be protected from fire by fire resisting partitions
and self-closing fire doors.
 Stair openings can act as natural chimneys in fires. This
makes escape from the upper parts of some workplaces
difficult. Most stairways, therefore, need to be separated from
the workplace by fire resisting partitions and self-closing fire
doors. Where stairways serve no more than two open areas, in
Shops for example, which people may need to use as escape
routes, there may be no need to use this type of protection.
 Evacuation of a workplace - Means of escape in case of fire
b) Doors
Some doors may need to open in the direction of travel, such
as:
 Doors from a high-risk area, such as a paint sprayingroom or
large kitchen;
 Doors that may be used by more than 50 persons;
 Doors at the foot of stairways where there may be a danger
of people being crushed.
 Some sliding doors may be suitable for escape purposes
provided that they do not put people using them at additional
risk, slide easily and are marked with the direction of opening.
 Doors which only revolve and do not have hinged segments
are not suitable as escape doors.
 Evacuation of a workplace - Means of escape in case of fire
c) Escape routes and travel distances
Escape routes should meet the following
criteria:
 Where two or more escape routes are
needed they should lead in different directions
to places of safety.
 Escape routes need to be short and to lead
people directly to a place of safety, such as the
open air or an area of the workplace where
there is no immediate danger.
 Escape routes should be wide enough for the
volume of people using them. A 750 mm door
will allow up to 40 people to escape in 1
minute, so most doors and corridors will be
wide enough. If the routes are likely to be used
by people in wheelchairs, the minimum width
will need to be 800 mm
 International Fire Escape pictorial

Fire escape route outside building