Fire Risk Assessment Steps

Fire Risk Assessment helps to determine the dangers from fire and chances of fire occurring at your work place.
Five steps needed to take for Fire Risk Assessment

Step 1 => Identify potential fire hazards in the workplace.
=> sources of fuel & ignition
=> work processes

Step 2 => It's better to decide who might be in danger (visitors, employees)

Step 3 => Evaluate the risks and take necessary fire precautions.
=> Are existing fire safety measures adequate in case of fire?
=> control of ignition sources/sources of fuel
=> fire warning/detection
=> means of escape and fighting fire
=> testing and maintenance of fire precautions
=> fire safety training of employees

Step 4 => Record your findings and update it about your findings to employees.
=> Prepare emergency plan, update and trail employees.

Step 5 => Keep the assessment under review and revise it time to time whenever necessary.

Fire Products At Great Prices

Fire Equipments At Great Prices
Extinguisher Covers and Stands
Extinguishers Factory Sealed
Extinguishers Refillable
Fire Blankets
Miscellaneous Fire Products

FIRE SENSE UK ONLINE STORE

As well as providing safety information, Fire Sense is also a leading distributor of fire equipment.

Standard Members 10% discount on every purchase. Sign up for free Fire Sense Plus Members 30% discount on every purchase Read More

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is a statutory instrument which places the onus on individuals to carry out risk assessments on certain types of property and submit them to their local fire authority. Its full title is: Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 1541 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It became law on 1 October 2006, and only applies to England and Wales.

Office of Public Sector Information:
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, England & Wales

Gas tank explodes during battle with flames

The Fire and Rescue Service were called to the Annesborough Industrial Estate on the Annesborough Road shortly before 8pm yesterday evening after receiving reports of a blaze in the former Irlandus Circuits premises.

The fire, in a large, unoccupied building which does not adjoin any other businesses, was well underway by the time firefighters arrived.

Group commander Alan Fulford said the operation was further complicated when a cylinder exploded. Two other cylinders inside the building were also in danger of exploding late last night.

"The building is quite large, fifty metres by fifty, so this is a major operation for us," he said.

He added that five fire appliances and an aerial platform were used by firefighters to tackle the incident, while two other fire trucks remained on stand-by.

A PSNI spokesman described the fire as a "major" incident.

He said the Fire Service were urging all householders in the vicinity of the estate to stay well away from the scene.

"They have also asked that residents keep all windows and doors closed," he added.

Written by Belfast Telegraph

Goals of Firefighting

The three main goals in firefighting are (in order) life safety, incident stabilization, property conservation and environmental preservation. Firefighting is an inherently difficult occupation. As such, the skills required for safe operations are regularly practiced during training evolutions throughout a firefighters career. In the United States, the preeminent fire training and standards organization is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Often initial firefighting skills are taught during a local, regional, or state approved fire academy. Depending on the requirements of a department, additional skills and certifications such as technical rescue and Para-medicine may also be taught at this time.

Firefighters work closely with other emergency response agencies, most particularly local and state police departments. As every fire scene is technically a crime scene until deemed otherwise by a qualified investigator, there is often overlap between the responsibilities of responding firefighters and police officers such as evidence and scene protection, initial observations of first respondents, and chain of evidence issues. The increasing role of firefighters in providing emergency medical services also brings firefighters into common overlap with law enforcement. One example of this is a common state law requiring all gunshot wounds to be reported to law enforcement agencies.

Most career (full time, paid) firefighters in North America are represented by the International Association of Fire Fighters

Fire fighting has several basic skills: prevention, self preservation, rescue, preservation of property and fire control. Firefighting is further broken down into skills which include size-up, extinguishment, ventilation, and salvage and overhaul. Search and Rescue, which has already been mentioned, is performed early in any fire scenario and many times is in unison with extinguishment and ventilation.

By Wikipedia

Fire Equipments At Great Prices

Fire Equipments At Great Prices
Extinguisher Covers and Stands
Extinguishers Factory Sealed
Extinguishers Refillable
Fire Blankets
Miscellaneous Fire Products

FIRE SENSE UK ONLINE STORE

As well as providing safety information, Fire Sense is also a leading distributor of fire equipment.

Standard Members 10% discount on every purchase. Sign up for free Fire Sense Plus Members 30% discount on every purchase Read More

The Fire Brigades Union

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is the main union for firefighters in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1918 in the London area as the Firemans Trade Union, but soon grew to cover the entire country. During the Second World War, it began to unionise auxiliaries for the first time. Today, it has around 50,000 members.

Home Page of Fire Brigades Union

Founded := 1918
Members := 50,000
Country := United Kingdom
Affiliation := TUC, STUC
Key people := Matt Wrack, general secretary
Office Loc := Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames
Website := www.fbu.org.uk

By Wikipedia

Fire Alarms For the Deaf (By Haydn Lewis)

LIFE-saving smoke alarms designed for deaf people will be fitted free by the fire brigade as part of an awareness drive.

During Deaf Awareness Week next week, North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service is teaming up with RNID - the national charity for deaf and hard of hearing people - to raise awareness of special smoke alarm systems, which could save the life of a person with hearing loss in the event of a fire.

Station manager Carl Boasman, said: "It's really important that people have working smoke alarms and, more specifically, for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to have special smoke alarms.

"This is particularly important for deaf or hard of hearing people living in rented accommodation, which may have a standard smoke alarm that is unsuitable for them.

"Contact us on 01609 788545 and we will visit your home to give fire safety advice and fit a smoke alarm that meets your needs."

A third of people with a hearing loss say they would have difficulty waking up to a conventional alarm, especially considering most remove their hearing aids before they go to sleep each night.

advertisement

Almost a quarter, 23 per cent, say they would struggle to know if the alarm went off during the day.

"Deaf people need to place a vibrating pad under their mattress or pillow at night. If smoke is detected, the alarm will sound and set off the pad to assist in waking them," said Mr Boasman.

"We all have a part to play in creating safer communities. Deaf Awareness Week is an ideal opportunity for those who know anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing, to make sure they have alarms that meet their needs."

Brian Grover, head of technology and research at RNID, said: "Fire can strike at anyone's home, but not everyone is equally protected because deaf people cannot rely on hearing an ordinary alarm.

"We encourage deaf and hard of hearing people to think about their personal fire safety and ensure they have the right alarm for their needs." Deaf Awareness Week promotes the positive aspects of deafness and social inclusion, and raises awareness of the huge range of local organisations that support deaf people and their family and friends.

How do smoke alarms work?

Conventional smoke alarms work by emitting a loud noise when smoke is detected, providing a vital early warning of fire, and aiding escape. People who are deaf or hard of hearing need additional ways of making them aware the alarm has been activated, including vibrating pads and flashing strobe lights.

Read Article: The Press

digg story

National Fire Service

The National Fire Service (NFS) was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service (Northern Ireland) was created in 1942.

The NFS was created in August 1941 by the amalgamation of the wartime national Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and the local authority fire brigades (about 1,600 of them). It existed until 1948, when it was again split, with fire services reverting to local authority control, although this time there were far fewer brigades, with only one per county and county borough.

The NFS had both full-time and part-time members, male and female. Its uniform was the traditional dark blue double-breasted tunic, and it adopted the peaked cap worn by the AFS instead of the peakless sailor-style cap which had been worn by many pre-war fire brigades (including the London Fire Brigade). The peaked cap was retained by fire services after the war.

When they were on duty, but in the frequent long stretches between calls, many firemen and firewomen performed vital wartime manufacturing work, in workshops in the fire stations or adjacent to them. This was entirely voluntary, but since many of the wartime personnel had worked in factories before the war it was work with which they were familiar and skilled.

The Chief of the Fire Staff and Inspector-in-Chief throughout the war (until 28 February 1947, when he retired) was Sir Aylmer Firebrace, former Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade.

At peak strength the NFS had 370,000 personnel, including 80,000 women. The Fire Services Act 1947 restored fire services to local authority bodies in 1948.

Ranks

Men

* Fireman
* Leading Fireman
* Section Leader
* Company Officer
* Senior Company Officer
* Column Officer
* Divisional Officer
* Assistant Fire Force Commander
* Fire Force Commander
* Chief Regional Fire Officer
* Chief of the Fire Staff

Women

* Firewoman
* Leading Firewoman
* Senior Leading Firewoman
* Assistant Group Officer
* Group Officer
* Assistant Area Officer
* Area Officer
* Regional Woman Fire Officer

By Wikipedia

Chief Fire Officer

The rank of Chief Fire Officer or CFO is the highest in the fire Service in England and Wales. Its equivalent in Scotland is Fire Master, although this title has been replaced by Chief Fire Officer in some Scottish brigades. With the changes to the UK fire service in 1974, the title changed to reflect the new county structures and now other titles for this office can include 'County Fire Officer' and 'Chief Executive', neither of which are in common use on their own for example, Greater Manchester FRS use the title 'County Fire Officer and Chief Executive'. In the London Fire Brigade, the CFO is known as 'Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade' - the post is currently held by Sir Ken Knight.

Responsibilities

A CFO is responsible for the day-to-day command of the fire service in all areas. Ultimately however major policies and procedures have to be agreed and passed by the Fire Authority to whom the CFO reports. The Fire Authority is a committee of locally elected councilors. The committee's prime responsibility is to ensure that the fire service is run properly and responsibly. In simple terms the Chief Officer is directly answerable to someone who represents the interests of the general public. The collective voice for CFOs on policy, planning and strategy in the UK is CFOA Chief Fire Officers Association, previously known as CACFOA (Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association).

By Wikipedia

London Fire Brigade

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the statutory fire and rescue service for London, England. It is run by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and is the third-largest fire service in the world with nearly 7000 staff of which 5800 are operational firefighters and officers.

In 2004 it answered nearly 300,000 emergency calls, responded to 60,000 fires and over 5000 traffic accidents, making it one of the busiest fire brigades in the world. In 2005, it received over 9000 hoax calls, the highest number of all the fire brigades in the United Kingdom.

As well as fire fighting, the LFB responds to hazardous material incidents, conducts emergency planning and performs fire safety inspections and education.

It does not provide an ambulance service, this function is performed by the London Ambulance Service as an independent NHS Trust, however all firefighters are trained in first aid and fire engines - or appliances as they are known - carry first-aid equipment including basic resuscitators.

By Wikipedia

Fire Damages Famed Cutty Sark Ship (21st May 2007)

A spectacular fire caused heavy damage to the clipper ship Cutty Sark on Monday, adding millions to the cost of restoring one of London's proudest maritime relics. The cause of the blaze was under investigation, but within hours officials responsible for the graceful 19th-century sailing ship said they were determined to carry on with a four-year restoration project.

"We're going to redouble our efforts to ensure that the ship is open, available, back and running in the future," said Chris Livett, the chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, responsible for restoring the world's only surviving tea clipper.

Read Full Article at Fire Fighting News

Fire Classes

European and Australasian Classifications

In Europe and Australasia, a different classification system is used.

* Class A: Fires that involve flammable solids such as wood, cloth, rubber, paper, and some types of plastics.

* Class B: Fires that involve flammable liquids or liquifiable solids such as petrol/gasoline, oil, paint, some waxes & plastics, but not cooking fats or oils.

* Class C: Fires that involve flammable gases, such as natural gas, hydrogen, propane, butane.

* Class D: Fires that involve combustible metals, such as sodium, magnesium, and potassium.

* Class E: Fires that involve any of the materials found in Class A and B fires, but with the introduction of an electrical appliances, wiring, or other electrically energized objects in the vicinity of the fire, with a resultant electrical shock risk if a conductive agent is used to control the fire.

* Class F: Fires involving cooking fats and oils. The high temperature of the oils when on fire far exceeds that of other flammable liquids making normal extinguishing agents ineffective.

The system is more or less the same as the U.S system, with letter designations shifted around - for instance, Class C fires in the U.S system are known as Class E in Europe.

By Wikipedia

Fire Fighting

Firefighting is the act of extinguishing destructive fires. A firefighter fights these fires and prevents destruction of life, property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical profession which requires years of training and education to become proficient in.

Historically, physicists created a graphical representation detailing the three elements of fire (fire triangle). In recent years, one more point has been added, creating the fire tetrahedron. The four elements needed to sustain combustion are:

fuel, oxidizer, heat and a chemical chain reaction.

To extinguish a fire, it is necessary to remove one or more of the four components of combustion. Removing any of these components of the fire tetrahedron will stop the other elements from interacting and not allow combustion to continue. Firefighters work on limiting exposures (fuel that is in jeopardy of being ignited by nearby flame or from radiant heat), containing and extinguishing fire and then overhauling charred and burned debris from the affected areas as well as extinguishing all hidden fires to prevent a rekindle.

Firefighters' goals are to save life, property and the environment. A fire can rapidly spread and endanger many lives; however, with modern firefighting techniques, catastrophe is usually avoided. To prevent fires from starting a firefighter's duties include public education and conducting fire inspections. Because firefighters are often the first responders to people in critical conditions, firefighters provide basic life support as emergency medical technicians or advanced life support as licensed paramedics.

By Wikipedia

Fire service in the United Kingdom

The fire service in the United Kingdom has undergone dramatic changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational procedures in the light of terrorism attacks and threats. Fire services in the UK are not nationalised, but are generally known as fire and rescue services (FRS) in legislation and by government departments. Many FRS were previously known as brigades, or county fire services, but legislative and administrative changes; and alterations to boundaries has led to the almost universal incorporation of FRS into the name.

A FRS is usually the operational fire fighting body, as distinct from the fire and rescue authority which is the legislative, public and administrative body made up of civilians and councillors that runs the FRS. Prior to the introduction of devolved parliaments and assemblies in the UK, the fire service had been the sole responsibility of the Home Office. There are now many layers of governance including central, devolved and local government; fire brigades, fire and rescue services; and other executive agencies, including Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI), HMFSI Scotland, and the Chief Fire Officers Association, all with a degree of operational, legislative or administrative involvement with the fire service in the UK.

By Wikipedia

Risks of a Fire

The primary risk to people in a fire is smoke inhalation (breathing in smoke); most of those killed in fires die from this, not from burns. The risks of smoke include:

* suffocation due to the fire consuming or displacing all the oxygen from the air;
* poisonous gases produced by the fire;
* aspirating heated smoke that can burn the inside of the lungs.

As an example, plastics inside a car can generate 200,000 m3 of smoke at a rate of 20-30 m3/sec. Firefighters carry self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) (an open-circuit positive pressure compressed air system) to prevent smoke inhalation.

Obvious risks stem from the effects of heat. Even without contact with the flames (conduction), there are a number of comparably serious risks: burns from radiated heat, contact with a hot object, hot gases (e.g., air), steam and hot and/or toxic smoke. Firefighters are equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) that includes fire-resistant clothing (nomex or polybenzimidazole fiber (PBI)) and helmets that limit the transmission of heat towards the body.

The heat can make pressurised gas cylinders and tanks explode, producing what is called a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion). Some chemical products such as ammonium nitrate fertilizers can also explode. Explosions can cause physical trauma or potentially serious blast or shrapnel injuries.

Heat causes human flesh to burn as fuel causing severe medical problems. Depending upon the heat of the fire, burns can occur in a fraction of a second. A first degree burn (on the skin surface) is extremely painful. A second degree burn is a burn into the skin, and can cause shock, infections, and dehydration and if left untreated often results in death. Second degree burns compromise nerve tissue and are not painful. Third degree burns leave muscles and internal organs exposed from completely destroyed skin. If the person survives the shock and exposure to germs, medical treatment is extremely difficult.

By Wikipedia

Fire Watch

Fire watch, the act of watching for the occurrence of fires. This is usually done with the intent of detecting fires early so that they can be extinguished quickly and damage to land and/or property can be prevented or minimalized. Fire watches are often employed in forested areas where the risk of fires is high (dry conditions, hot weather, etc) or in industrial settings where "hot work" (welding, metal grinding, etc) is occurring.

By Wikipedia

Fire Hazard

A fire hazard is any situation in which there is a greater than normal risk of harm to people or property due to fire. Fire hazards can take the form of ways that fires can easily start, such as a blocked cooling vent, or overloaded electrical system, ways fires can spread rapidly, such as an insufficiently protected fuel store or areas with high oxygen concentrations, or things which, in a fire, pose a hazard to people, such as materials that produce toxic fumes when heated or blocked fire exits.

By Wikipeida: Fire Hazard

Fire Protection Engineering

Fire protection engineering (also known as fire engineering or fire safety engineering) is the application of science and engineering principles to protect people and their environments from the destructive effects of fire and smoke.

The discipline of fire protection engineering includes, but is not exclusive to:

* Active fire protection - fire suppression systems, and fire alarm.
* Passive fire protection - fire and smoke barriers, space separation
* Smoke control and management
* Building design, layout, and space planning
* Fire prevention programs
* Fire dynamics and modeling
* Human behavior during fire events
* Risk analysis, including economic factors

Full Article at Wikipedia

Live Fire Training - The Missing Link

The recent death of an apprentice firefighter in Baltimore, Maryland (Linskey, 2007b) during live fire training has many people asking questions. The preliminary investigation conducted by the Baltimore City Fire Department determined that this training exercise was not conducted in compliance with 1403 Standard on Live Fire Training in Structures (National Fire Protection Association, 2002). But does this answer the question of how this happened or why this young mother died? I would contend that lack of compliance with existing standards provides only a partial answer.

Read Full Article At: Fire House