Work Safety

FIRE EXTINGUISHERSWHICH ONE TO

CHOOSE?

OxygenHeatFuelIf you can take

away one of the three factors, you can extinguish the fire.

Which fire extinguishers will work the best?

WHAT DOES A FIRE NEED TO CONTINUE?

Class Types of Fuels

A SOLIDS such as paper, wood, plastic etc

BFLAMMABLE LIQUIDS such as paraffin, petrol, oil etc

CFLAMMABLE GASES such as propane, butane, methane etc

DMETALS such as aluminium, magnesium, titanium etc

E Fires involving ELECTRICAL APPARATUS

F Cooking OIL & FAT etc

TYPES OF FUEL CLASSES

WATER FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

The cheapest and most widely used fire extinguishers. Used for Class A fires. Not suitable for Class B (Liquid) fires, or where electricity is involved.

More expensive than water, but more versatile.

Used for Classes A & B fires.

Foam spray extinguishers are not recommended for fires involving electricity, but are safer than water if inadvertently sprayed onto live electrical apparatus.

FOAM FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

Often termed the ‘multi-purpose’ extinguisher, as it can be used on classes A, B & C fi res.

Best for running liquid fi res (Class B). Will effi ciently extinguish Class C gas fi res, BUT BEWARE, IT CAN BE DANGEROUS TO EXTINGUISH A GAS FIRE WITHOUT FIRST ISOLATING THE GAS SUPPLY.

Special powders are available for class D metal fi res.

Warning: when used indoors, powder can obscure vision or damage goods and machinery. It is also very messy.

ABC DRY POWDER EXTINGUISHERS

Carbon Dioxide is ideal for fi res involving live electrical apparatus. It will also extinguish FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS such as paraffi n, petrol, oil , but is NOT suitable for class 'A' fi res.

All extinguishers are fully re-chargeable, and serviceable and come COMPLETE WITH MOUNTING BRACKETS.

PLEASE NOTE that fi re extinguishers should be installed and commissioned by a competent person in accordance with BS 5306.

CO2 EXTINGUISHERS

Prior to 1st Jan 1997, the code of practice for fi re extinguishers in the UK was BS 5423, which advised the colour coding of fi re extinguishers as follows:

Water - RedFoam - CreamDry Powder - BlueCarbon Dioxide (CO2) - BlackHalon - Green (now 'illegal' except

for a few exceptions such as the Police, Armed Services and Aircraft).

COLOR CODING

Type of Fire Extinguishers

ClassA

Class B

ClassC

Class D

ClassE

ClassF

Water Fire extinguishers

FOAM Fire extinguishers

ABC Dry Powder Extinguishers

CO2 Extinguishers

WHICH FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS THE BEST?

X

http://www.mfs-fi re-extinguishers.co.uk/types.htm

BIBLIOGRAPHY