Construction Fire Risks

A fire safety extinguisher could quite simply save your life. While most people know that it is effective against fires, they don’t know the principles behind it. They perhaps think that the fire safety extinguisher just throws water on the blaze, putting it out. Besides the obvious things everyone needs to know about extinguishers, they also need to know about the fire tetrahedron, provisions involved when using an extinguisher as well as what kind of fire extinguisher is needed.

To understand how best to use a fire safety extinguisher, it is important to know something about combustion. For a long time, the concept of fire was defined by the ‘fire triangle’ which stated that a fire needed fuel, heat and oxygen to thrive and survive. Additional research shows that a fourth element, a chemical chain reaction, was key to a fire’s survival. So instead of a fire triangle, there is now a fire tetrahedron which is a solid pyramid with four faces. If any one of the four elements are removed from a fire, it will be extinguished. Oxygen is necessary to sustain combustion, heat is needed to bring the material to its ignition temperature, fuel is for the fire to thrive and the final aspect is the exothermic chemical chain reaction in the material. In theory, a fire safety extinguisher takes away one of these elements, thus putting the fire out.

For the best results, there are certain rules that should be adhered to depending on the fire safety extinguisher type and the kind of building. In a multi-storey building, each storey should have two fire safety extinguishers on each floor for optimum safety when preparing for a class A type risk (fires with solids). A 13A rated extinguisher will cover approximately 200m2. For Class B type risks (flammable liquid fires), each room should be considered separately. If fire risks are more than 20m apart, then they should be considered separately. If fire risks are situated closer than 20m, they should be assessed as individual risks or divided groups.

Purchasing the correct fire safety extinguisher is the job of the nominated ‘Responsible Person’ who is put in charge of fire safety for staff members. All extinguishers purchased must conform to European Standards of quality and must also be compliant with the colour coding specification. When buying fire safety extinguishers, you need to first carry out fire risk assessments to ascertain what the greatest risks of fire are. If for example, your company deals with chemicals, then you would buy a yellow labelled extinguisher that tackles class F fires. To be safe, always look for the British Standards Kitemark which will tell you that the cylinder passes the nation’s strict fire safety tests.

Without the correct knowledge, you will not understand exactly how a fire safety extinguisher works. Remember, the fire triangle has been replaced with a fire tetrahedron as a greater understanding of how fire works has been discovered. You should always be adequately prepared and have the right type of fire safety extinguisher as well as the correct number. Finally, when purchasing a fire extinguisher, always ensure that it has passed the strict safety standards, the last thing you want is to find that the cylinder doesn’t work when you need it the most.