FIRE PREVENTION IN THE WORKPLACE
By Josh Bregar & Nayemur Mohammad
SAFE10037
Submitted on Monday November 11, 2013
Table Of Contents
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Title Page..............................................................................pg.1
Table of Contents..................................................................pg.2
Introduction to Workplace Fire Safety………………………..pg.3, paragraph 1
Common Causes of Fire In Workplace……………………...pg.3-4, paragraph 2-4
Importance Of Topic…………………………………………..pg.4, paragraph 5
Fire extinguishers……………………………………………...pg.4-5, paragraph 6-15
Prevention of Fire In Workplace………………………………pg.6, paragraph 16-17
Conclusion……………………………………………………..pg.6-7, paragraph 18
References…………………………………..………………...pg.8
Fire prevention and safety is vital in all workplaces. In fact, Fire Prevention Canada
(FIPRECAN) reported that on average, eight people die from fires each week in Canada, with
37% of these fatalities coming from workplace environments. 7Although fires do not occur
as often as some workplace accidents such as slips and falls, fires have the potential to have
catastrophic repercussions on both businesses and employees. This report topic will cover
the various types of workplace fires and how they can be started along with tools used to
fight each type of fire. In addition, essential fire prevention measures will be explored in
order to prevent these serious hazards from ever starting.
70,000
Faulty Fuel Supplies
60,000
Faulty Appliances & Leads
50,000
Misuse of Equipment or
Appliances
40,000
Chip/Fat Pan Fires
30,000
Playing with fire
20,000
Careless Handling of Fires or
Hot Substances
10,000
Placing Articles too close to
heat
0
Category 1
Other Accidental
Figure 1 Causes of accidental fires in buildings other than dwellings 2000-2010
Workplace fires can happen anytime and for the smallest reasons. One common fire
starter in the workplace is by chemical reactions in labs and in industries. A student in
Melbourne University was working on a chemistry lab, during the lab one of the reactions
caused the glass instrument to explode,. Which resulted in severe hand injuries and a fire. 1
Other common ways of starting fires at workplaces are electricity, by compressed gasses
and smoke or smoking.2 Another example would be a fire in the cheesecake factory in
Waikiki. The fire was believed to have started from a gas leak in the fryer causing it to
explode. It caused 2.5 million dollars in damages.3
A common way fires get started in a workplace is electrically. Due to faulty wiring
and circuits. Electrical fires can be started by:



Live wires coming to contact with flammable objects
Combustion of transformers
Shorting a circuit (a disturbance in the circuit that causes current to flow in a
unwanted path)
In addition to electrical
fires, another common
one is spontaneous
combustion fires.
These typically occur
between a reaction of
two or more
substances. For
example, in St.
Boniface, Winnipeg, a
fire was started from
an accidental
combustion of an
Figure 2 Speedway fuels explosion in Boniface, WIN
unknown oil substance. 4
Other causes of combustion are:





Compressed gasses
Chemical reactions
Poor cleanup
Leaks in pipe lines(particularly gas pipes)
Unwanted heating of gases 4
These are important examples because in the chemical engineering field, we are
required to perform experiments and tasks containing hazardous chemicals, compressed
gasses and other hazardous materials that may cause a fire if not cautious. These examples
and safety tips concern us because as chemical engineering students it is required for us to
know the proper procedure of doing things to avoid and control any fire hazards.
With all of the different classes of fires, it is important to be prepared for the ones
that can occur in your specific workplace, for example, a restaurant kitchen has different
fire hazards than a chemical processing plant. So it is vital to have the proper fire
extinguishing tools to be able to handle all the potential fires your workplace may have.
Below is a table of each type of fire extinguisher and what fire they are specialized in to
fight against.
Class A fires consist of ordinary
combustibles such as wood, paper,
trash or anything else that leaves
an ash. Although each type of fire
extinguisher above with the
exception of the CO2 extinguisher
can put out a Class A fire, the water
based extinguishers works best to
extinguish a Class A fire. 2
Class B Fires are fueled by
flammable or combustible liquids,
which include oil, gasoline, and
other similar materials. These can
often occur in gas stations, oil
refineries or even restaurant kitchens. These fires can be smothered by extinguishers which
deplete the oxygen supply such as CO2, Dry Powder, AFF Foam and Vapourising Liquid
based extinguishers. 2
Class C fires are Energized Electrical Fires. In order to smother these fires you must always
de-energize the circuit then use a non-conductive extinguishing agent. Such as Carbon
dioxide extinguishers. 2
Class D Fires are combustible metal fires. Magnesium and Titanium are the most common
types of metal fires. Once a metal ignites do not use water in an attempt to extinguish it.
Only use a Dry Powder extinguisher. Dry powder agents work by smothering and heat
absorption of the fire. 2
Class K fires are fires that involve cooking oils, grease or animal fat and can be extinguished
using Purple K, the typical agent found in kitchen or galley extinguishers. Purple K is a drychemical fire suppressant found in some dry powder extinguishers. These fires are most
commonly found in kitchen workplaces.2
Furthermore, safety blankets can be very effective to combat the early stages of
class A, B, C and K fires. They work by covering the and preventing the fire continue due to a
lack of oxygen. Lastly, in class A and K fires, you can actually throw salt and baking soda
onto the early stages of a fire to help combat the flames.
According to the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA), there are several
conditions a workplace needs to meet in order for fire extinguishers to be effective in their
workplace. First of all, the right fire extinguisher(s) need to be readily available in your work
environment. 5 This means that the fire extinguisher has to be easily accessible, an example
of this would be locations at all exit doors and areas where the risk of a fire to break out is
more likely. Fire extinguishers are also to be used on the small, early stages of a fire by an
individual who is trained to use it properly. Environment conditions need to be taken into
account as some fire extinguishers may become ineffective, for example, water-based
extinguishers in extreme cold environments could render ineffective (IAPA). 5
We have covered all of the topics necessary to control and smother a fire if one were
to break out in the workplace. But the most important of all is the prevention of a fire in the
first place. Prevention of fires is key to combating fires. Below are the responsibilities the
employers have in order to maximize the prevention of fires.
Employers are responsible for:
 Informing all employees about
the fire safety plan
 Having fire emergency
procedures on each floor
 Conducting regular fire drills
with all employees
 Preparing a fire safety plan8
Figure 3 Fire Safety Plan
Other ways to prevent a fire is to use CSA (Canadian Standards Association)
approved tools like, power bars, appliances and wiring. These tools are approved by the
CSA that have mechanisms to prevent short circuiting that can lead to a potential fire.
Furthermore, avoid overloading an outlet
with multiple extension cords and plugs.
Finally, keep combustible materials and
appliances and electronics a safe distance
from each other and remove unwanted
garbage and debris from your workplace that
can prove to be a fire hazard.6
In order to maintain a safe workplace,
the measures we have discussed play a vital
role in obtaining that goal. Unfortunately
Figure 4 Outlet overload causes fires
accidents will happen, no matter how much you prepare for them. Therefore, it is crucial to
be in a position to subdue these fire hazards as they happen with the proper fire
extinguishers, fire alarms and other methods to prevent employee injuries and damage
costs to businesses. Also, a fire safety plan should always be established in any workplace
along with routine practices by both the employee and employer to assure the safety of
everyone if a fire occurs.
References
4
CBC News. (2012, October 12). Spontaneous combustion blamed for massive fuel plant fire.
CBC News. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/spontaneous-combustion-blamed-for-massivefuel-plant-fire-1.1233142
2
Classes of Fire - A, B, C, D, and K. (n.d.). Falck Alford Productions. Retrieved November 10,
2013, from http://www.falckproductions.com/resources/fire-safety-and-firewatch/classesof-fire-a-b-c-d-and-k/
3
DiGiovanni, P. (2013, February 25). Cheesecake Factory reopens in Waikiki after fire.
HawaiiNewsNow. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/21320156/cheesecake-factory-to-reopen-monday
5
Fire Extinguishers in the Workplace. (n.d.). IAPA. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from
http://www.iapa.ca/pdf/FreeDownloads8_fireext.pdf
7Fire
Prevention Canada Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Fire Prevention Canada. Retrieved November 9,
2013, from http://www.fiprecan.ca/index.php?section=2
6Fire
1
Prevention in Your Workplace. (n.d.). Safety Services Company. Retrieved November 10,
2013, from http://www.safetyservicescompany.com/topic/training/fire-prevention-inyour-workplace-getting-better-fire-safety-measures
News.com.au. (2013, November 8). Student injured in Melbourne uni explosion. News.com.
Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://www.news.com.au/national/breakingnews/student-injured-in-melbourne-uni-explosion/story-e6frfku9-1226756107455
Causes of fires chart reformatted to fit word from http://apollo600.seaward.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2013/05/Fire-statistics-chart.jpg