Fire Hazard from Fire Filling Portable Gas Can In vehichle

• In incidents reported to NIOSH in the US, firesspontaneously ignited when workers or others attempted to fill portablegasoline containers (gas cans) in the backs of pickup trucks equipped withplastic bed liners or in cars with carpeted surfaces. Serious skin burns andother injuries resulted.

• These fires result from the buildup ofstatic electricity. The insulating effect of the bed liner or carpetprevents the static charged generated by gasoline flowing into the container orother sources from grounding. The discharge of this buildup to the groundedgasoline dispenser nozzle may cause a spark and ignite the gasoline.

• Both ungrounded metal (most hazardous) and plastic gascontainers have been involved in these incidents, a NIOSH Hazard ID said.

On Office Fire Prevention Strategies

Learn the location of fireescape routes and how to activate the fire alarm. Participate in practice firedrills on a regular basis. Become familiar with stairway exits - elevators maynot function during a fire, or may expose passengers to heat, gas and smoke.

Through a program of scheduled inspections, unsafe conditions can be recognizedand corrected before they lead to serious injuries. Take a few moments each dayto walk through your work area. Look for items previously pointed out, such asobjects protruding into walkways, file cabinets that are weighted toward thetop or frayed electrical cords. Advise personnel in the area of the hazards andset about correcting them.

Fire Understanding

The Phenomenon of Fire

Fire is the visible heat energy being released from rapid oxidation of afuel.  Something is
'on fire' when the exothermal release of heat from the oxidation reactionreaches visible light level.

Basically, combustion takes place within two modes-flaming andflameless. The flaming mode can be viewed as a tetrahedron, with each siderepresenting one of the four basic
components of flaming combusion: fuel, heat, oxygen and uninhibited chainreaction. Here the practical emphasis is on extinguishing an existingfire.

The classic fire triangle illustrates the flameless mode, the three legsrepresenting fuel, oxygen and heat. Air provides oxygen forcombustion. The heat required for ignition varies with the characteristicsof the fuel. Fuel is any substance that will sustain combusion after theinitial application of heat to start it. Here the practical emphasis is onpreventing a fire from starting by prohibiting the formation of thetriangle.   

Fire Protection Improve

Australia, -- Standards Australia has released an interim standard to assist fireauthorities in the selection and development of protective clothing forfirefighters. Fire agencies, the fabric technology industry, manufacturers andunion representatives contributed to the development of interim standard AS4967 -- 2001 -- Protective clothing for firefighters -- Requirements and testmethods for protective clothing used for structural firefighting. The recentlyselected New South Wales Fire Brigade uniforms have a garment shell andprotective liner for ease of cleaning and long-term maintenance. They conformto the standard. Two other fire clothing standards have also been released -- AS4824 (Int) -- 2001 -- Protective clothing for firefighters -- Requirements andtest methods for protective clothing used for wildland firefighting, and AS/NZS4821 (Int) -- 2000 -- Firefighters' protective footwear. 

Electrical & Fire Safety

Fire and Burn Prevention

• Fires and burnsare the second leading cause of household injuries.  Each year nearly4,000 people in the U.S. die in home fires.  Thousands of others are injuredas a result of fires or accidental burns.  Most of these deaths involvechildren and elderly adults.  Kitchen accidents, space heaters, chimneyfires, faulty electrical wiring, and cigarettes are common causes.  Checkyour home for fire hazards.  Install smoke detectors on every floor.