Friday, March 2, 2012

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. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Fire Extinguiser Selection

Portable fireextinguishers can saves lives and property by putting out or containing fireswithin the capability of the extinguisher. However, they must be of the correcttype for the particular fire, and they must used correctly.

Selection of Fire Extinguishers
There are a number of types of portable fire extinguishers available inAustralia. Each type of extinguisher may be rated for one or more classes offire. In some cases, particular extinguishers are not only consideredineffective against certain classes of fire, they can be dangerous if used inthose circumstances.

The classes of fire are:

Class A
: Ordinary combustibles (Wood, Paper,Plastics)
Class B : Flammable and combustible liquids
Class C : Flammable gases
Class D : Combustible metals
Class E : Electrically energised equipment
Class F : Cooking oils and fats

Portable fire extinguishers are distinguishable by their labels and theircolouring. In 1997 the standard colours of some portable fire extinguisherswere changed. It is therefore likely that you may encounter two of the sametype of extinguisher with different colourings.