Fire extinguishers are used in the workplace to manage smaller fires or to facilitate escape when a fire is blocking an escape route. Unless the employer has established and implemented a written fire safety policy which needs the quick and total evacuation of employees from the workplace in the occasion of a fire and consists of an emergency action strategy which meets the needs of 29 CFR 1910.38 and a fire prevention strategy which meets the specifications of 29 CFR 1910.39, extinguishers have to be supplied in the workplace. Also, regardless of no matter whether an employer has the needed emergency action and fire prevention plans, fire extinguishers need to be provided if a distinct OSHA regulation demands they be supplied (as is the case in particular situations when welding is getting performed).
Where
When figuring out where to spot fire extinguishers, you need to identify what type of fire might happen in a certain region and the degree of hazard. The OSHA requirements for fire extinguisher distribution are as follow:
· Extinguishers for Class A fires should be placed such that staff will need to travel no much more than 75 feet to attain the fire extinguisher.
· Extinguishers for Class B fires should really be placed such that personnel want to travel no more than 50 feet to attain the fire extinguisher.
· Class C fire extinguishers ought to be distributed primarily based on the suitable Class A or Class B hazards. Class C fires are actually a Class A or Class B fire involving energized electrical equipment exactly where the fire extinguishing media wants to be nonconductive. As a result, if the fire hazard is a lot more closely connected with a Class A type of fire, the distribution pattern for Class A extinguishers ought to be used, and if the fire hazard is extra closely related with a Class B sort of fire, the distribution pattern for B extinguishers should really be employed.
· Class D fire extinguishers ought to be distributed such that the employee travel distance from the combustible metal working area to any extinguisher is 75 feet or much less. (Per OSHA regulation, Class D fire extinguishers are necessary in areas exactly where combustible metal powders, flakes, shavings, or similarly sized supplies are generated at least once every single two weeks.)
When figuring out the spacing of fire extinguishers in your workplace, recall that these are recommendations only. Right after reviewing the hazards in your workplace, you may perhaps make a decision that spacing the extinguishers a lot more closely than the OSHA needs is warranted. Also, when making use of various-class extinguishers (ABC extinguishers, for instance), you will distribute extinguishers primarily based on the hazard form-so, if an ABC extinguisher is meant for use with Class B fire hazards, you would distribute them such that the travel distance is no much less than 50 feet, as opposed to employing the 75-foot guideline for Class A.
Inspection, Maintenance, and Testing
If you opt for to provide fire extinguishers in the workplace, you are required to institute a plan to inspect, retain, and test them. The OSHA specifications for inspection, maintenance, and testing of fire extinguishers contain:
All transportable fire extinguishers in the workplace should be inspected, maintained, and tested.
The extinguishers ought to be visually inspected a least once each and every month. This inspection ought to incorporate ensuring that there is clear access to the extinguisher so that an employee can simply reach it in the occasion of a fire and that the extinguisher is still in spot, hasn’t been broken, and seems to be in working order (if the extinguisher has a gauge, it shows as complete and that the safety pin is still in spot-indicating that the fire extinguisher has not been employed). Fire extinguishers that are broken or missing really should be replaced immediately.
Carry out an annual upkeep verify on portable extinguishers. طفايات الحريق of stored stress extinguishers is not essential. The date of the maintenance verify need to be recorded and the record of the verify ought to be retained for 1 year soon after the final entry or the life of the shell, whichever is less. Also, you are necessary to empty and keep dry chemical extinguishers (that need a 12-year hydrostatic test) every single six years. (Dry chemical extinguishers that have nonrefillable, disposable containers are exempt from this requirement.) Note that when recharging or hydrostatic testing is performed, the six-year requirement begins from that date.
Provide a replacement extinguisher when portable fire extinguishers are removed from service for maintenance and recharging. The replacement really should be of the very same (or equivalent) variety (for example, an ABC extinguisher can be made use of as a replacement for a Class C fire extinguisher but a single that is rated for Class A fires only can’t).