more information.

No matter how small your workplace is, certain areas should have working smoke detectors to provide early warning. These include kitchen/break rooms and laundry areas.

An “EXIT” is actually made up of three equally important components:

1. EXIT ACCESS — A clear path through the building to an EXIT DOOR;

2. EXIT PROPER or EXIT DOOR leading outside;

3. EXIT DISCHARGE — A safe, clear path from the exit door to a “public way” such as a street or parking lot.

NFPA Standard 101, the “Life Safety Code” sets the actual egress system requirements for any building.

While the code requirements vary from occupancy to occupancy, and are beyond the scope of this guide, a few requirements that are applicable to most public buildings are:

1. All exit access, exit, and exit discharge must be made up of approved components. Hallways, aisles, walkways, hinged doors, proper stairs and ramps are approved components. Ladders, spiral stairways and windows are generally not;

2. The exit access and exit width are based on the occupant capacity. As a general rule, exit access should never be narrowed down below the total width of all exit doors at its end. The exit access and exit doors in any building must be a minimum of 36” wide;

3. Doors cannot lock against the direction of exit travel. In occupancies over 50 persons, or high hazard occupancies such as flammable liquid storage rooms and electrical load centers, the door must swing in the direction of exit travel.

In occupancies over 100 persons, panic hardware is required:

4. Stair treads must be at least 9” deep and risers must not be over 8”;

5. Two exits are generally required from each area or room, however, minimum dead ends” are allowed to have only one exit. For typical town office type buildings, the maximum deadend is 50 feet. For schools, it is 20 feet unless sprinklered, then it is 50 feet. For assembly occupancies it is 20 feet;

6. EXIT signs are required along exit access and at exits unless they are “obvious”.

Exit signs must have letters at least 6 inches tall with 3/4 inch strokes. Some exit signs commonly available do not meet this requirement. Doors that could be confused with exits, must be labeled “Not an Exit” or with their purpose such as” “restroom,” “closet”, etc;

7. Exit signs must be self illuminated or illuminated by emergency light units. Emergency lighting is required unless there is no occupancy during dark hours;

8. Self-closing fire doors must never be blocked open;

9. Exit discharges need proper stairs and must be kept clear of snow to a public way at all times;

10. Combustible finish in exit access cor­ridors must not exceed 10 percent. This includes posters and decorations.

Incipient Suppression

Incipient suppression is often limited to portable fire extinguishers.

Some buildings have automatic sprinkler protection and/or automatic suppres­sion systems on special hazards. A few buildings have wheeled or fixed fire ex­tinguishers or fire hoses for employee use.

A qualified contractor must maintain sprinkler and automatic suppression systems annually. Employees who operate equip­ment with automatic suppression systems should be trained in their purpose, automatic activation methods, and how to manually activate them.

If wheeled/fixed extinguishers or fire hoses are present, and employees are not specifically prohibited by the emergency plan from using them, special training should be provided in their proper operation.

Portable Fire Extinguishers

The proper selection, location, maintenance and use of portable fire extin­guishers can greatly reduce the risk of a serious injury or a serious property loss in the event of a fire. As an employer, you have three choices when it comes to employee use of portable extinguishers:

1. Prohibit their use in the emergency plan. Require evacuation of all em­ployees immediately. In this case, no employee training is required;

2. Allow all employees to use extin­guishers and train them annually;

3. Train a selected group of employees annually (an “incipient fire brigade”), and prohibit their use by other em­ployees. If employees will be allowed to use extinguishers, an annual training program must be implemented. As a minimum, this train­ing should include selection, operation of extinguishers and the hazards associated with incipi­ent firefighting. Good training will in­clude the entire Fire Defense Triad and spend a major part of the training on proper “fight or flee” decision making. While not specifically required by safety regulations, “hands on” live fire training greatly increases employee ef­fectiveness if they must ever use an extinguisher.

It should be considered occasionally, even if not practical every year.

The selection and placement of extin­guishers is based on the types of fire hazards present in any work area:

• Class A hazards are ordinary com­bustibles such as wood, paper, and plastics;

• Class B hazards are flammable/combustible liquids such as gasoline, fuel oil, solvents, as well as flammable gases such as LPG and acetylene;

• Class C hazards are any type of fire in the presence of energized electrical equipment;

• Class D hazards are combustible met­als such as magnesium, titanium and aluminum;

• Class K hazards are commercial cooking equipment, especially fryers and griddles.

Placement of extinguishers should be as follows:

• Class A fire hazards (most areas of most buildings) should be protected by a Class A rated extinguisher within 75 feet;

• Class B fire hazards should be pro­tected by a properly sized Class B rated extinguisher within 50 feet;

• Class C rated extinguishers should be installed in areas where fires involving electrical equipment are likely or in any area where an untrained member of the public might grab an extinguisher in an emergency;

• Class D rated extinguishers, approved for the specific metals present, should be installed where combustible metals are worked in a manner creating a haz­ard. In most cases, this involves han­dling powdered metals, grinding or machining;

• Class K rated extinguishers should be installed in or near areas where fry­ing or other cooking with oils/grease takes place.

The coverage areas for Class A and Class B extinguishers are circles with the extinguisher in the middle. When placing extinguishers of any type, look at the area that it will protect and mount it toward the exit access from that area. All extinguishers must be mounted us­ing an approved bracket or hanger. Safety standards require that extinguish­ers not be mounted higher than 60 inches.

All extinguishers must be properly maintained and inspected to ensure proper operation in the event of an emergency. The requirements are:

• Maintenance — A qualified fire equip­ment vendor must conduct annual maintenance of each extinguisher. This must be documented, usually by attaching a tag.

• Inspection — The employer must con­duct monthly visual inspections (“quick checks”) of all extinguishers in the workplace. This should be documented on attached tags or in a log­ book. A monthly inspection includes ensuring that the unit is mounted in its place and not blocked; the gauge (if so equipped) is in the “green,” the pin seal is intact, and the unit appears overall ready for use.

Types of extinguishers that are available are:

• Pressurized Water — Class A only. These units come in a standard 21⁄2? gallon size and generate a 25-foot reach with a water stream that is highly effective at quenching trash and other ordinary combustible fires. The key disadvantage is that they are unsafe and potentially lethal around energized electrical equipment or flammable/combustible liquids.

• Foam — Class A and B. Several different types of foam are available, with AFFF and FFFP being the most com­mon. They are effective, in trained hands, at suppressing flammable/combustible liquid fires, but will not extin­guish such fires if dripping or squirting fuel is present. One big advantage to this type of extinguisher, however, is that foam can be used to “secure” gaso­line spills and prevent ignition until the fire department arrives.

Foam conducts electricity so they should not be used around energized electrical equipment and should never be provided where the public or untrained staffs have ready access to them.

• Carbon Dioxide — Class B, C. Carbon dioxide extinguishers have the shortest range, lowest extinguishing capacity pound for pound, and require well-trained users to successfully extinguish a fire with them. They are popular for use around electrical equipment, though, since they leave no residue and the gas easily penetrates electrical cabinets and motors.

• Dry Chemical — Class B, C or Class A, B, C (“Multiple Purpose Dry Chemical”). Pound for pound, these are the most effective extinguishers for suppressing fires. Since they are safe for use around energized electri­cal equipment, multi-purpose dry chemical extinguishers are recom­mended in any general hazard location where the public, tenants, or untrained staff may misguidedly grab them in an emergency.

• Halon Replacements — Class B, C or Class A, B, C. Halogenated hydrocar­bon, or “halon” fire extinguishers are still in use in some buildings, with Halon 1211 being the most common.

These extinguishers are being phased out, though, due to concerns about damage to the ozone layer.

Several halon replacements are avail­able, at higher than dry chemical cost, for situations where the powdered agent from a dry chemical extinguisher might damage sensitive equipment.

• Class D extinguishers — Also called “dry powder” extinguishers come in several types for specific types of met­als. Selection of an agent must be based on the metals present in the work area. FSM /p>