How to Use Fire Extinguishers

Introduction: How to Use Types of Fire Extinguishers. Fire is the burning of flammable or combustible substance thereby giving out heat and light. For fire to start, three things must be together;  fuel, heat and oxygen (these are the fire elements that forms what is known as the fire triangle). Fire is classified as A, B, C and D according to the material that is involved. Two fires were recorded on the Project last week. Fires mostly occurs during dry seasons, harmattan, when welding & cutting or grinding sparks come into contact with flammable materials (Paint) …

What Then Is Fire Prevention?

No illegal extra construction – all factories must have approved Bangladesh Building Certificate. No illegal sub contracting – All subcontracting must be VF approved prior to moving products. Quarterly fire drills must be held with 100% of the employees. Worker Participation Committees must be set up as per the Alliance Members Agreement. It is a practice or measures put in place to prevent fire from happening, the measures could be designs, procedures, practices & the use of approved equipment, etc. It also involved not allowing the fire element coming together.

Common Causes Of Fire

GET ALL FACTORIES CODED GREEN

  • Esper Achkar
  • Civil Engineer
  • Liaise with the 3rd party engineering firm
  • Maintain and follow up on all corrective actions
  • Work with, follow up with, and educate factories directly
  • GET ALL FACTORIES CODDED GREEN
  • Carelessness (Unprotected welding, cutting & grinding sparks)
  • Poor storage and handling of flammable materials’ liquid and gases
  • Wrong smoking attitude
  • Inadequate removal of combustible waste
  • Use of faulty electrical equipment

Fire Prevention Guidelines

  • Scope of Inspections
  • Building Inspection
  • Records Review
  • Physical/Structural Testing
  • Thermographic scanning of electrical components
  • Evacuation Preparedness
  • Store flammable material in an approved container or area
  • Don’t smoke in forbidden areas
  • Remove combustible materials from hot work area
  • Always close valves of gas cylinders when not in use
  • Do not use faulty electrical equipment
  • Don’t overload electrical sockets
  • Do not weld or cut on close containers without management permit
  • Protect welding, cutting and grinding slag with enough fire blankets and screens.
  • Do not leave cooking /electrical appliances unattended
  • Provide enough fire extinguishers in all the work areas

In the Event of Fire

  • Raise an alarm by shouting “Fire” to attract other people around
  • Call Daewoo HSE on Ch3 or TSKJ Emergency Dispatch on TSKJ Ch 1
  • Fight the fire with fire extinguisher (Do not endanger yourself in the process)

How to Use Fire Extinguishers

  • Break seal and remove safety pin
  • Direct nozzle to the base of fire
  • Squeeze handle to discharged content to the base of fire

All Types of Fire Extinguishers

Specimen

In Factory “M” they have the following extinguishers and other auxiliary Fire fighting equipment to fight fire, the size of the factory is 35000 Square feet:

1) Fire Extinguisher*                                                              42pcs

    (ABC Dry Power -32pcs, CO2  -10pcs)

2) Hose Pipe                                                                            5pc(300 feet/hose pipe)

3) Water Bucket**                                                                 6pcs

4) Sand Bucket***                                                                 6pcs

5) Fire Hook                                                                           6pcs

6) Fire Beater                                                                          6pcs

7) Fire proof Hand Gloves                                                      6prs

8) Stretcher                                                                             2pcs

9) Lock Cutter                                                                        1pc

10) Axe                                                                                   1pc

11) Fire proof Blanket                                                            1pc

Note : Fire Extinguishers are checked periodically (Once every month)to see whether they are in good condition or not.

** Water Buckets are always kept with sufficient water.

*** Sand Buckets are always kept with sufficient sand

Working conditions are safe & hygienic

Fire Safety extinguishers available

  • fire extinguishers are undercharged or out of order
  • operating instructions are not available for all fire extinguishers, and not displayed on them or above where they are fixed
  • fire extinguishers laid on floor or installed higher than 1.5m
  • blocked access to fire extinguishers
  • fire hose pipes not provided in all areas of the factory
  • distances between fire hose pipes too short not allowing all areas of the factory to be reached with at least one
  • fire hose pipes found partially blocked
  • hose pipes leaking
  • number of fire extinguisher operators is less than required (25% of total workforce in any section separately (Bangladesh))
  • factory does not provide proper fire fighting training to sufficient number of workers by a competent person or prescribed authority
  • no training records available for fire fighter training provided
  • insufficient number of fire fighters per production floor, need to be 25% of workforce
  • fire fighters don’t wear identification (e.g. uniform, armband or badge)
  • fire fighter’s certificates not available
  • fire fighter’s photos not available at fire points
  • some fire alarm switches found inactive
  • fire alarm switches missing in areas such as accessory store, child care room, wastage room
  • fire alarm not provided in every section (e.g. security guards dormitory, boiler room)
  • PA (public address) system not available in each section of the factory in case of a fire (incl. sample room)
  • smoke detectors not in all areas of the factory e.g. packing, sub-stores, accessory store, temporary yarn and fabric store, wastage store etc.
  • evacuation plan do not show watcher position e.g. “you are here”
  • emergency evacuation plan not provided in all areas including warehouse, any temporary work or storage areas, sample room etc.
  • fire drills to be carried out on a regular basis at least every 2 months
  • fire drill register not maintained
  • aisle marking not found in all areas e.g. fabric inspection, fusing, sample room, dining, packing area, washing section etc.
  • secondary aisle marking not found in cutting section
  • aisle marking is faded or erased
  • aisles found blocked by e.g. pillars, baskets, machines, workstations, workers standing in the aisle due to machines kept too close to the wall etc. not allowing proper emergency evacuation
  • aisles found narrow between wall and cutting tables, not enough evacuation space
  • workers confined by tables, machines or goods
  • minimum width of exits to be 45” (Bangladesh)
  • width of emergency exits of sections less than 32” inches
  • exit height of sections found only 5’feet 9”inches
  • exit doors found open inward instead of outward (in the direction of emergency evacuation) (i.e. child care, laboratory, boiler room, cutting, sewing, accessory store, dining hall, sample room, CTPAT etc., not applicable for actual toilet doors)
  • sliding doors found that obstruct evacuation
  • exit signs are without active/intact light and not found above all exit doors e.g. sample room, fusing, passages, dining hall, packing room, doctor’s room, CTPAT area etc.
  • exit signs & light boxes not in local language
  • emergency lights no marked
  • lack of 2nd exit for all sections (e.g. fusing, dining hall, fabric inspection) and no 2nd staircase provided for sections that have more than 20 workers working in them (Bangladesh) or whatever is specified by the local law (Bangladesh: 2nd exit required if more than 5 people working in an area)
  • exits obstructed by iron or cement bars in doorways
  • no fire assembly point set and not marked as such
  • emergency lighting not found around exits in factory and dormitory
  • emergency numbers not posted throughout factory/dormitory
  • fire inspection certificate not available for
  • no fire licence or licence is not covering all floors in use
  • water tank capacity not sufficient as per law
  • anti-explosive lights not installed in areas where many cartons are stored

Conclusion

Different Types of Fire Extinguishers is described in this article. roof top of factory used as dining hall or for other operations, which should rather be kept empty in the case of an emergency. End of How to Use Fire Extinguishers