Fire safety
Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread and impact of a fire.
Fire safety measures include those that are planned during the construction of a building or implemented in structures that are already standing and those that are taught or provided to occupants of the building.
Threats to fire safety are commonly referred to as fire hazards. A fire hazard may include a situation that increases the likelihood of a fire or may impede escape in the event a fire occurs.
Fire safety is often a component of building safety. Those who inspect buildings for violations of the fire codes, and visit schools to educate children on fire safety topics, are fire department members known as Fire Prevention Officers. The Chief Fire Prevention Officer or Chief of Fire Prevention will normally train newcomers to the Fire Prevention Division and may also conduct inspections or make presentations.
Elements of a fire safety policy
Fire safety policies apply at the construction of a building and throughout its operating life. Building codes are enacted by local, sub-national, or national governments to ensure such features as adequate fire exits, signage, and construction details such as fire stops and fire rated doors, windows, and walls. Fire safety is also an objective of electrical codes to prevent overheating of wiring or equipment, and to protect from ignition by electrical faults.Fire codes regulate such requirements as the maximum occupancy for buildings such as theatres or restaurants, for example. Fire codes may require portable fire extinguishers within a building, or may require permanently installed fire detection and suppression equipment such as a fire sprinkler system and a fire alarm system.
Local authorities charged with fire safety may conduct regular inspections for such items as usable fire exit and proper exit signage, functional fire extinguishers of the correct type in accessible places, and proper storage and handling of flammable materials. Depending on local regulations, a fire inspection may result in a notice of required action, or closing of a building until it can be put into compliance with fire code requirements.
Owners and managers of a building may implement additional fire policies. For example, an industrial site may designate and train particular employees as a fire fighting force. Managers must ensure buildings comply with fire evacuation regulations, and that building features such as spray fireproofing remains undamaged. Fire policies may be in place to dictate training and awareness of occupants and users of the building to avoid obvious mistakes, such as the propping open of fire doors. Buildings, especially institutions such as schools, may conduct fire drills at regular intervals throughout the year.
Beyond individual buildings, other elements of fire safety policies may include technologies such as wood coatings, education and prevention, preparedness measures, wildfire detection and suppression, and ensuring geographic coverage of local and sufficient fire extinguishing capacities.
Common fire hazards
Some common fire hazards are:- Kitchen fires from unattended cooking, grease fires/chip pan fires
- Electrical systems that are overloaded, poorly maintained or defective
- Combustible storage areas with insufficient protection
- Combustibles near equipment that generates heat, flame, or sparks
- Candles and other open flames
- Smoking
- Equipment that generates heat and utilizes combustible materials
- Flammable liquids and aerosols
- Flammable solvents placed in enclosed trash cans
- Fireplace chimneys not properly or regularly cleaned
- Cooking appliances - stoves, ovens
- Heating appliances - fireplaces, wood-burning stoves, furnaces, boilers, portable heaters, solid fuels
- Household appliances - clothes dryers, curling irons, hair dryers, refrigerators, freezers, boilers
- Chimneys that concentrate creosote
- Electrical wiring in poor condition
- Leaking/defective batteries
- Personal ignition sources - matches, lighters
- Electronic and electrical equipment
- Exterior cooking equipment - barbecue
Fire code
A typical fire safety code includes administrative sections about the rule-making and enforcement process, and 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.
Sections may establish 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 licensed pyrotechnician, providing the information necessary for the issuing authority to determine whether safety requirements can be met. Once a permit is issued, the same authority may inspect the site and monitor safety during the exhibition, with the power to halt operations, when unapproved practices are seen or when unforeseen hazards arise.
List of some typical fire and explosion issues in a fire code
- Fireworks, explosives, mortars and cannons, model rockets
- Certification for servicing, placement, and inspecting fire extinguishing equipment
- General storage and handling of flammable liquids, solids, gases
- Limitations on locations and quantities of flammables
- Specific uses and specific flammables
- Permits and limitations in various building occupancies 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
- Other hazards
- Electrical safety codes such as the National Electrical Code for the U.S. and some other places in the Americas
- Fuel gas code
- Car fire
Public fire safety education
Fire prevention programs may include distribution of smoke detectors, visiting schools to review key topics with the students and implementing nationally recognized programs such as NFPAS "Risk Watch" and "Learn not to burn".
Other programs or props can be purchased by fire departments or community organizations. These are usually entertaining and designed to capture children's attention and relay important messages. Props include those that are mostly auditory, such as puppets and robots. The prop is visually stimulating but the safety message is only transmitted orally. Other props are more elaborate, access more senses and increase the learning factor. They mix audio messages and visual cues with hands-on interaction. Examples of these include mobile trailer safety houses and tabletop hazard house simulators. Some fire prevention software is also being developed to identify hazards in a home.
All programs tend to mix messages of general injury prevention, safety, fire prevention, and escape in case of fire. In most cases the fire department representative is regarded as the expert and is expected to present information in a manner that is appropriate for each age group.