Ihab Saad – Subpart F Fire

Welcome to another safety class, and today we're going to talk

about subpart F, which is fire protection and prevention.

Definitely, fires are one of the major hazards on construction

sites. So today we're going to talk about what could be the major

sources of that fire and how to protect against any fires on

construction sites.

So that's just an example to show here that we have some combustible

fuels, which in this case is oxygen tanks. If fire reaches

these tanks, which is very close here, that can cause a major

explosion and a huge fire.

The most frequently cited violations when it comes to

to fire that was actually in the year 2004 which is pretty much the

same for every year

150 c1 I

fire extinguishes for every 3000 square feet of building area not

existing.

150 c1, four extinguishers on each floor that are not existing. 153

Oh,

liquid petroleum gas systems, Petro protection from vehicular

traffic. 150 a, one five, the non existence of a fire protection

program, and 150 c1, six extinguishers within 50 feet of

flammables. So these are the major violations when it relates to

fire.

Let's first of all identify a few things. The first definition is

about what is flammable. Flammable is any material capable of being

easily ignited, burning intent intensely or having a rapid rate

of flame spread.

Flammable liquids are liquids having a flash point, which is the

point of ignition below 140 degrees Fahrenheit and a vapor

pressure not exceeding 40 pounds per square inch. So these are the

flammable liquids.

Another definition is a safety can, because we're going to talk

about storage in safety can. So what's a safety can? It's an

approved closed container of not more than five gallon capacity,

having a flash arresting screen, spring closing lid and spout cover

designed so it will safely relieve internal pressure when exposed to

fire, because if the pressure keeps building Inside, it's going

to explode.

These are samples of

these safety cans. And as you can see, it's labeled as a safety can,

and the liquid inside is a flammable liquid. This one here is

a regular gas, and so on. So they are going to be labeled on the

outside as well.

That's another example of a safety can

these are definitely not considered to be safety cans

because they do not satisfy the previous conditions. So you cannot

store flammable liquids in these

that's another example of an non approved container for flammable

liquids. In this case, actually, it's covered, even not with the

cover, but with the rag for the cap. So that's a double whammy.

General requirements when it comes to fire protection, the employer

must develop the fire protection program to be followed through

construction and provide all equipment as required for

firefighting. We're going to talk about the different kinds of

equipment that are going to be used in case of building under

construction or a permanent construction, or whatever,

water supply a temporary Of course, as we know, the easiest

way to put off fires is using water so a temporary or permanent

water supply of sufficient volume, duration and pressure must be made

available as soon as combustible materials accumulate.

Where underground water mains are to be provided. They must be

installed and available as soon as practical at the very beginning of

the construction project. So usually, when we see immediately

after the excavation, we have the infrastructure, which includes the

water pipes and the water mains and sewage lines and so on and so

forth.

Here's an example on the installation of water main as and

as you can see, that's at the very beginning phases of construction.

Water Supply standpipes in all structures where standpipes are

required, they must be maintained as construction progresses in such

a manner that they are always ready for fire protection use. So

these are going to be dedicated for fire protection. Standpipes

must be provided with the Siamese Fire Department.

Due to wind, so that the flapping of the tarp or the Canvas can get

it closer than the 10 feet. So you want to secure them in place.

If we look at

if we look at this picture, we're going to find several violations.

First of all, improper

gas cans canisters. These are okay, but these ones are not a

heat source and so on, and they're not properly stored. So that's a

big violation here.

Another violation here we have a coverall stored on top of gas

tank. So this is flammable. We have here curtains, it seems like

curtains or something like that, that probably could also be

flammable. So that's not and some other clothing here, so that's not

the proper storage.

Welding fires, one of the most frequent causes of construction

fires is the use of welding or cutting torches. The issue is that

there's got to be some residual heat. Even after you're done with

the welding, the method itself might still be hot. It's

imperative that sparks not be allowed to fall on combustible

materials that's sparks are one source of the ignition. Use fire

retarder tarps or blankets when combustibles cannot be removed.

And here we're gonna need we're gonna talk about a hot work

permit, which is a permit that's needed for certain kinds of work,

although not required. Many companies require hot work permit

for any operation using flames or producing sparks requires

management authorization before hot work may commence, and the

permit should include inspecting and isolating combustible

materials and establishing a fire watch. We're going to talk about

the fire watch on the next slide. Basically a fire watch is a is the

use of a standby employee equipped with a fire extinguisher, who

whose sole job is to monitor for sparks or flames. So they're not

doing anything other than watching for the flame spread or for

sparks. This employee should remain in the area for at least 30

minutes after hot work is complete to continue monitoring, especially

as I said, in case of welding, the metal itself is still going to be

red hot even after you stop applying the welding material

itself to it. So you're going to keep a watch for another 30

minutes, just to make sure nothing comes in touch with that hot

surface causing it to ignite that material

for open fires, the best practice is not to allow open fires on the

job. Some state and county laws prohibit burning without a permit.

So again, to minimize the possibility of spreading fire.

So that's basically our presentation about fire, fire

protection, fire protection devices, their availability, and

so on and so forth. So here are some questions that we need to

know the answers to. What are the four steps used

for to using a fire extinguisher? Remember the acronym pass P, A, S,

S, so that's the answer to the first question. P is

point,

and then remove the pin. A is aim, S is squeeze, and the other s is

swipe across the base of the flame.

What type fires? Does a BC extinguisher protect against it's

a BC so it protects against B and C. And in this case, it's going to

be electrical and fuel, fuel is B and electrical is C.

What should you do before refueling equipment? If you're

going to refuel an equipment for use on a construction site, what

should you do before that? Of course, it's going to be shutting

off that equipment. How many fire extinguishers are required in the

building under construction? We talked about different methods of

calculation. One of them is every

3000 square feet, or at least one per floor, and the axis should not

be more than 100 feet in any direction for you to be able to

access that fire safety. So this is our presentation today about

fire safety. I hope you have understood the material and please

stay safe. Thank you. Applause.