Providing an adequate number of properly maintained portable fire extinguishers and training your employees to use them could save your organization from experiencing dramatic losses from a fire.

The requirements of OSHA’s portable fire extinguisher standard (29 CFR 1910.157) apply to all employers, with two exceptions. The first exception applies if you have a written fire safety policy that requires all employees to evacuate immediately when the fire alarm sounds, and you have met the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.38/39 (emergency action and fire prevention plans). In this case, if you choose not to provide fire extinguishers for employees to use, the requirements of Section 1910.157 do not apply.

Of course, local fire codes and the terms of your insurance policy are likely to require the presence of fire extinguishers anyway. But if you don’t expect employees to use them—at all, or ever—then you don’t have to comply with OSHA’s fire extinguisher regulations (unless some other standard in the general industry or construction regulations requires you to provide portable fire extinguishers).

The second exception applies if you designate and train only certain employees to use fire extinguishers (for example, fire brigade members). In this case, you do not have to meet the selection and distribution requirements of Section 1910.157(d). In other words, under these circumstances, you do not have to follow OSHA’s rules for selecting specific types of fire extinguishers and positioning them around your facility. You can locate extinguishers where they will be most accessible to your designated emergency responders.

Again, local fire codes and the requirements of insurance carriers will likely affect the placement of extinguishers in your facility.

Key Requirements

If neither exception applies, you must meet the requirements of the standard, which include the following key points:

• Fire extinguishers must be located where they are easily accessible to employees.
• They must be maintained in fully charged and operable condition at all times.
• Extinguishers must always be kept in their designated place except when being used.
• They must be selected and distributed around your facility based on the classes of fires that may occur in each work area.
• They must be located so that travel distance to an extinguisher meets the requirements of the standard (75 feet for Class A fire extinguishers, 50 feet for Class B extinguishers, 50-75 feet for Class C extinguishers, and 75 feet for Class D extinguishers).
• All fire extinguishers in your facility must be visually inspected once a month.
• All fire extinguishers must have an annual maintenance check.
• Alternative equivalent protection must be provided whenever a fire extinguisher is removed from service for maintenance.
• Hydrostatic testing on extinguishers must be performed by trained personnel with suitable testing equipment according to the schedule contained in Table L-1 of the standard.
• You must maintain records of hydrostatic testing that include the date of the test, the signature of the person who performed the test, and the serial number of the extinguisher.
• All employees who are expected to use fire extinguishers must be trained in the principles of extinguisher use and the hazards involved.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 5:43 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.