Fire safety
Fire safety is a component of Building Safety.
Some elements include:
- Maximum occupancy listing (Making sure that an area isn't so full of people that they can't all get out quickly in an emergency).
- fire exits and proper signage of them (e.g., Exit signs pointing to them that can function in a power failure)
- Placing fire extinguishers and fire alarms in easily accessible places.
- Banning of over-flammable materials for building or use.
- Frequently inspecting public buildings for violations and closing it until the violation is corrected or condemn it in extreme cases.
- Installing Fire alarm panels for quick detection and warning of fire.
Fire code (also Fire prevention code or Fire safety code) is a set of regulations prescribing minimum requirements to prevent fire and explosion hazards arising from storage, handling, or use of dangerous materials, or from other specific hazardous conditions. Fire safety code supplements building code, which includes construction requirements to minimize fire spread and to provide for safe fire exits. Although it may address similar issues, fire safety code is aimed primarily at preventing fires in the first place, including outside of buildings, and that necessary training and equipment will be on hand.
A typical fire safety code includes administrative sections about rule-making and enforcement process, and other substantive sections dealing with fire suppression equipment, particular hazards such as containers and transportation for combustible materials, and specific rules for hazardous occupancies, industrial processes, and exhibitions.
Each section may lay out the requirements for obtaining permits, and specific precautions required to remain in compliance with a permit. For example, a fireworks exhibition may require an application to be filed by a state-licensed pyrotechnician, providing the information necessary for the issuing authority to determine whether the safety requirements can be met. Furthermore, once a permit is issued, the same authority (or another delegated authority) may inspect the site and monitor the safety during the exhibition, with the power to halt unapproved operations, or where unforeseen hazards arise.
Here is a list of some typical fire and explosion issues to be dealt with in a fire safety code:
- fireworks, explosives, mortars and cannons, model rockets (licenses for manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, use)
- certification for servicing, placement, and inspecing fire extinguishing equipment
- general storage and handling of flammable liquids, solids, gases (tanks, personnel training, markings, equipment)
- limitations on locations and quantities of flammables (e.g., 10 litres of gasoline inside a residential dwelling)
- specific uses and specific flammables (e.g., dry cleaning, gasoline distribution, explosive dusts, pesticides, space heaters, plastics manufacturing)
- permits and limitations in various building occupancies (assembly hall, hospital, school, theatre, elderly care, prisons, warehouses, etc)
- locations that require a smoke detector, sprinkler system, fire extinguisher, or other specific equipment or procedures
- removal of interior and exterior obstructions to emergency exits or firefighters and removal of hazardous materials
- permits and limitations in special outdoor applications (tents, asphalt kettles, bonfires, etc)
- other hazards (flammable decorations, welding, smoking, bulk matches, tire yards)
- Electrical safety code
- Fuel gas fitting code
External links
- Non-profit organization focusing on campus fire safety
- US government site on fire safety
- UK government site on fire safety
- moebuildingcontrol.co.uk - UK Guidance on fire safety codes and fire engineering
- thefireengineer.com - Adventures in fire safety - The Fire Engineer and his team battle the forces of conflagration
- EXODUS - evacuation modelling software, by the Fire Safety Engineering Group [1] at the University of Greenwich, UK