Contact person: Director (S & T)Indian Railways Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology

Maharajpur, GWALIOR (M.P.) 474 020 ) : 0751-2470185, FAX: 0751-2470841

e-mail: dirsntcamtech@gmail.com

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2017-18/SP1April 2017

Target group: SSEs/JEs(Signal) & Signal Maintainers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIAMINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

Fire Prevention & Safety at RRI Installations

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Introduction At any working place, fire may occur due to negligence in safetyprecautions, human error, equipment failure and various othercauses. In the light of recent fire incidence at RRI Itarsi of BhopalDivision West Central Railway on 17.06.2015, fire at importantinstallation like RRI may cause one or more of the following:

• Damage to costly installation like Relay Room, Operating panel & Power Supply system.

• Paralyzing complete signalling system• Disruption in automatic train operation• Severe detention to trains lasting several days• Loss in terms of man hours due to deputing of

additional task force to restore or install a new system.

• Heavy financial loss to Railways due to above. • Loss of life.

The above losses can be preventedupto a great extent if certain safetyprecautions are observed. Forprevention of fire at work placesand firefighting in case ofemergencies, the following arenecessary:• Vigilance & observance of Safety

precautions.• Basic knowledge of using

firefighting equipments.• Basic knowledge of first aid. • Training of staff

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S.E.M. Part II, para No. 21.18.2 on Provision of Automatic Fire Detection & Suppression System says“Fire fighting equipment shall be kept in the power supplyequipment room. At major installation, fire detection andalarm shall preferably be provided in the relay room of relayinterlocking installations.”

Railway Board’s instructions on Provision of Fire/SmokeAlarm & detection Systems (Ref.: Rly. Board’s letter no.2013/Sig./Specifications dated 22.06.2015)“Fire/Smoke Alarm & detection Systems should be providedat all junction stations and major EIs & RRIs (more than 150routes)”.

There should not be any falseceiling in the relay room andpanel room. The height of roofslab should be decidedaccording to coolingrequirement. Accordingly falseceiling wherever available in therelay room and panel roomshould be removed and thesame should not be provided infuture installation.

Zonal Railway’s instructions on Fire prevention(i) Recommendations/suggestions for system improvementby enquiry committee of BPL division W.C.Rly.(Ref.- CSTE/W.C.Rly./JBP letter no. WCR/N-HQ/110/ET/RRIdated 31.03.2016)

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Standby operating panel should be kept ready for movement onat least two lines in case of such emergencies. (dealt by RDSO).

Provision of CCTV camera at appropriate location inside relayroom – configuration of which depends upon no. of cameras,visibility at night, storage capacity of the system.

Fire alarm may be linked with power shut down arrangement so that as soon as alarm activates, simultaneously power also shuts down

Inside relay rooms other than relay rack, nothing should be keptthere preferably, but if inevitable then steel materials onlyshould be used like steel table, records in steel almirah etc.Example of unwanted material – loose wire pieces, releasedmaterial etc.

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(ii) Precautions to prevent Fire Incidences

(Ref.: CSTE/JBP/WCR’s letter No. WCR/NHQ/110/Safetyinstructions –corr./Sig-82/Part -3 dtd. 13.04.2016)

At stations where Fire Alarm System have been provided,should be tested once in a week. Fire extinguisher equipments to be made available at all the

places as per requirement and their refilling to be ensured.

Precautions/recommendationsfor RRI installationsFirst Aid BoxEnsure availability of First aid box induty room.

A record of such inspections to be kept. A register to beopened with SSE/Sig/Control, in which position of alljunctions and RRI stations to be recorded per day. A joint inspection with Electrical department to be done

which conforms to previously issued JPO.

At stations, with shift duty staff, relay room tobe opened in each shift and a visualinspection of complete relay room to bedone. (Where it is not possible to open therelay room frequently as above, a visualinspection through glass door or window canbe done from outside). At other stations/RRIinstallations with no shift duty staff, theabove inspection to be done once in a day. Atall the other stations the above inspection tobe carried out at least once in a week.

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Provisions in RRI building before commissioning• Window air-conditioners installed in Relay room are

causes of failure of power supply during summer.Excessive load in summer due to continuous use maylead to fire in relay room. Centralized cooling of RelayRoom is recommended in place of window air-conditioners.

• The entry of outdoor Signalling & Telecom cables in thebuilding should be in a fully secured manner.

• There should be a provision of cable pit at the entrypoint outside the building/cabin in which the coils ofoutdoor cables to be buried with sand.

• A small pond filled with water nearby should beconstructed near the cable pit. Apart from emergencieslike fire incidences, the water from the pond can be usedin AC plant also in routine working.

• Provision of openings in the wall for cable entry from oneroom to another should be done. The tendency ofbreaking wall or roof for cable entry or any otherpurpose after commissioning should be discouraged.

• There should be provision of permanent duct for cableson each floor of the building.

• Electrical layout plan and new cables should be gotapproved by electrical department.

• From the past experiences, false ceilings are prone tocatch fire therefore no false ceiling should be provided inthe relay room or panel room.

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Wiring and cabling• Signalling cables & Signalling Power Cables should not run in

same path. They should be laid in separate channels or ducts.

Fire extinguishers• Adequate number of firefighting

equipments should be availableinside Relay room, Powerequipment room, battery roomand Operating Panel room or as perzonal railway instructions at suchlocations from where equipment isclearly visible and easilyapproachable from working place.

• Always use the correct type of fireextinguisher. Only Carbon dioxide(Co2) type fire extinguishers to beused in S&T installations which aresuitable for liquid and electricalfire.

Squeeze grip

Discharge nozzle

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• All electrical department cables and S&Tcable should also run in different paths.

• Colour coding of wires as per zonalrailway instructions should be strictlyfollowed for easy identification ofdifferent types of power supplies suchas 60 V DC, 24V DC, 110 V AC etc. aswell as positive and negative paths suchas B60, N60, BX110 and NX110 etc.

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How to operate Co2 type Fire extinguisherThere are four basic steps to operate extinguisher with squeeze grip handle:

Remember P A S S word

Caution :DO NOT use Co2 type fire extinguishers on metal fires.Keep your hands away from the plastic discharge nozzle,

which gets extremely cold during operation.

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Open the extinguisher valve slowly byturning the (wheel) knob in anticlockwisedirection to Spray CO2 gas through thenozzle

After removing the safety pin,aim the nozzle of extinguishertowards base of the fire.

For extinguisher with wheel valve

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Inspection of Co2 type Fire Extinguisher Make sure the extinguisher is mounted in a location where

it is visible and easy to locate during an emergency. Check the tamper-seal to verify it is not broken or missing. Ensure the pull-pin is not missing. Check the extinguisher for obvious physical damage,

corrosion, leakage, or a clogged nozzle, and report if any tothe concerned agency. Ensure that the extinguisher is not over due for recharging.Note: Carbon Dioxide extinguishers do not have a gauge. The

only method for verifying a carbon dioxide extinguisher isfully-charged is to weigh the unit and verify with the weightwritten on the equipment.

Remove the face of the unit and thenuse a commercial vacuum cleaner witha brush attachment to gently brush andvacuum the inside of smoke detectorand an air pressure canister to blowthrough the smoke entry points.

Smoke detectorsIf the smoke detector gets filled with dust, itwill not be able to sense the smoke and workproperly in an emergency.

Cleaning smoke detector is the best way to make sure smokedetector is capable of alerting when a fire occurs.Hence smoke detectors should be cleaned at least once inevery six months or as per the manufacturer’s instructions.

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Fire Alarm System• Periodically check the effectiveness of

fire alarm system and smokedetectors if providedSignal Maintainer – Every weekJEs -Once in a monthSSEs- Once in a quarterOR as per Zonal Railway’s instructions

Joint inspection with Electrical department• A joint inspection with the officials of electrical

department should be done quarterly in which deficienciesif any to be noted their rectification to be ensured at theearliest.

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Counselling• S&T and operating staff should be

counselled regarding fire prevention,and working of Fire Alarm Systemand operation of fire extinguishers.

Circuit alteration• During any circuit alteration work it

should be ensured that the newsignalling wires do not run overelectrical department wiring.

• Loose wiring or connection is one ofthe causes of fire hence no wireshould be left open, loose orhanging. All the wiring should beproperly routed, bunched and laced.

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Storage of materialAlways keep sufficient space between stacks of materialplaced inside store room so that if one stack catches fire itcan be quickly extinguished and cannot spread to otherstacks.

General Safety Precautions during maintenance Never use short cut methods while rectifying a failure. Always use proper and standard tools and measuring

instruments. Ensure that all the measuring instruments are in working

condition. Connect measuring equipment with propersetting, preferably on higher range of the value if notknown. Before energization of a circuit, check all the connections

are proper as per circuit diagram and fully tightened. Before disconnection of the circuit ensure that information

is to be issued to the users /operating persons.

Do not touch the electric / electronicequipment without ensuring that thereis no leakage current in the body of theequipment.

The handles of following tools shallinvariably be insulated: Screw drivers, Pliers , Any other tools used whose handles are metallic.

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While working on IPS, always stand on rubber mattressprovided in front or back of the module.

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DISCLAIMER :The information given in this pamphlet does not supersede any existingprovisions laid down in Signal Engineering Manual, Railway Board and RDSO publications.This document is not statutory and instructions given in it are for the purpose of guidanceonly. If at any point contradiction is observed, then S.E.M., Rly. Board/RDSO guidelines orZonal Rly. instructions may be followed.

Fire Safety Slogans

Carelessness is the biggest cause of fire

Fire is a good servant but a bad master

Uncontrolled fire knows no frontiers

Prevention of fire incidences is the moral responsibility of every railway employee.Be first to prevent the fire.

Safety rules are our best tools

Smoking can cause fires, If you smoke, do it outside

Fire Safety On, Accidents Gone

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