Fire Prevention
January 12, 2019
Comprehensive Range of High Quality Fire Sprinkler Systems, Domestic, Commercial & Industrial Applications
There is a fire extinguisher for just about every type of fire, some can cope with several kinds of fire at the same time, but none cover all fires. Operators of facilities such as chemical plants are required to have a range of fire prevention and fire fighting equipment readily available as well as strict procedures to limit danger. These measures include smoke detection, fire alarms, advice notices, signs, emergency lighting, sprinklers and fire extinguishers of varying types to deal with different classes of fire.
A fire risk assessment must be carried out to determine which extinguishers etc you will need on the premises, and it is always wise to err on the side of caution. It is also important to have the correct size and weight of extinguisher for each setting. There are 5 main types of fire extinguisher, although because there are additional versions of the water and dry powder units there are actually 8 to choose from.
In August 2018 a Shell chemical plant in the North West UK was evacuated after a significant fire broke out. Luckily the fire at Stanlow was brought under control by Cheshire Fire Service before it could cause any major damage. Incidents like this have to be taken extremely seriously though, as the plant uses ethylene in the manufacture of lubricant, polymer, detergent intermediates, detergent alcohols and plasticisers. This kind of mix makes for a very flammable and potentially hazardous cocktail.
Apart from the location in which the fire started, there was an adjacent unit housing an oil refinery that deals with 200,000 barrels per day, around 4.4 billion litres of diesel, 3 billion litres of petrol and 2 billion litres of jet fuel. There are 900 staff and 500 contractors based at this facility also, making on-site safety and fire prevention an even bigger priority.