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Fire hazard has contributed to about one-third of world major accidents in chemical plants. One of the approaches to avoid or minimize fire hazard is by using an inherent safety concept. This concept is best implemented at the pre...
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Fire hazard has contributed to about one-third of world major accidents in chemical plants. One of the approaches to avoid or minimize fire hazard is by using an inherent safety concept. This concept is best implemented at the preliminary design stage. However, practical application of inherent safety is still limited due to non-availability of easy to use tool for direct application in a process plant This paper addresses the above issue by proposing a prototype tool known as Inherent Fire Consequence Estimation Tool (IFCET) that can be used during preliminary design stage to eliminate or minimize the consequence of fire accidents. The tool is developed in MS Excel for pool fire model and linked with process design simulator, iCON. The functionality of the IFCET is demonstrated using case studies of flammable liquid leaked from a process stream and spilled of LPG during unloading at filling station. The results from the case studies show that IFCET can be used to eliminate or minimize the consequence due to pool fire during preliminary design stage. IFCET has a potential to be extended to include other types of fire accidents such as Jet Fire, BLEVE, etc.
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Fire in the operating room is a life-threatening emergency that demands quick, efficient intervention. Because the circumstances surrounding fires are generally well understood, virtually every operating room fire is preventable. ...
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Fire in the operating room is a life-threatening emergency that demands quick, efficient intervention. Because the circumstances surrounding fires are generally well understood, virtually every operating room fire is preventable. Before every operating room case, thorough preprocedure "time outs" should address each team members' awareness of specific fire risks and agreement regarding fire concerns and emergency actions. Fire prevention centers on 3 constituent parts of the fire triad necessary for fire formation. Regular fire drills should guide policies and procedures to prevent surgical fires. Delivering optimal patient care in emergent situations requires surgical team training, practicing emergency roles, and specific actions.
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To protect occupants from the dangers of fire in domestic buildings, the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap 572) was enacted in 2002. The statute requires that the owners and occupiers of buildings used for domestic purposes w...
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To protect occupants from the dangers of fire in domestic buildings, the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap 572) was enacted in 2002. The statute requires that the owners and occupiers of buildings used for domestic purposes where the first building plans were submitted during or before 1987 upgrade their fire safety provision to the 1994 standard. However, structural constraints in existing buildings prevent owners from installing heavy fire service installations (FSIs). Furthermore, installing FSIs in communal areas involves financial and property rights issues which may be insurmountable in nature. From this perspective, it is difficult for occupiers of these buildings, particularly the elderly and those on a low income, to enhance fire safety due to financial and technical burden and therefore they cannot enjoy the benefits of upgraded fire safety provision. Nevertheless, with reference to the proven effectiveness of an improvised sprinkler system (i.e. one which uses direct town main supplies and thus does not require the installation of water tanks and pumps) as an alternative to conventional sprinkler systems, this paper explores the technical feasibility of accepting an improvised hose reel (HR) system as an alternative to conventional HR systems.
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A deadly factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan caused the death of 289 workers on September 11, 2012. The havoc played by fire could have been avoided if the concerned authorities had better fire safety measures and strategy. This art...
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A deadly factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan caused the death of 289 workers on September 11, 2012. The havoc played by fire could have been avoided if the concerned authorities had better fire safety measures and strategy. This article presents an exploratory study designed to obtain first-hand information about this issue in which data were collected from 135 organizations within various industries of Pakistan. The results of this study are alarming because most of the organizations are not even equipped with basic fire safety equipment and are devoid of fire exit paths. Incompetence and negligence on the part of government agencies and many stakeholders frequently allows fire to play havoc with the lives of workers in Pakistani organizations, confirming the famous saying Parva saepe scintilla contempta magnum excitavit incendium' (A spark neglected has often raised a conflagration).
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The evaluation of building performance during fires is a critical step in designing appropriate strategies. Inappropriate or incomplete performance evaluations can mislead fire safety design solutions, which may in turn result in ...
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The evaluation of building performance during fires is a critical step in designing appropriate strategies. Inappropriate or incomplete performance evaluations can mislead fire safety design solutions, which may in turn result in unacceptable loss of life or building damage from fire. While various building fire safety performance evaluation models have been developed, they focus primarily on 'hard' characteristics, such as building construction type and fire protection measures. However, 'soft' characteristics, such as building design (architectural) features and occupant characteristics, which also significantly influence building fire safety performance, have not been comprehensively taken into account. In the current study, two conceptual performance models: a generic fire response model and an integrated characteristic interaction model, have been developed to represent the holistic building fire safety performance considering the effects of both hard and soft characteristics. In these models, various cause-effect relationships among building, people, and fire characteristics are identified at the different levels of detail. Based on the conceptual models, a quantitative model utilizing the parameter ranking method and weighted sum method, which are commonly used in analytical hierarchy process, is proposed as a tool to help evaluate building fire safety performance and to assist decision making process of developing fire safety design solutions.
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A fire risk assessment has always been a challenging task. Performance-based approaches to fire engineering have shown that risk-based decisions and fire scenarios are fundamental elements that must be considered in fire safety st...
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A fire risk assessment has always been a challenging task. Performance-based approaches to fire engineering have shown that risk-based decisions and fire scenarios are fundamental elements that must be considered in fire safety strategies. A correct assessment of the fire risk allows all the involved stakeholders to identify a specific strategy from among a variety of possibilities. A risk assessment is the best tool to identify comparable fire protection strategies and to measure the reduction in fire risk that can be obtained with each specific prevention and protection measure, i.e., by means of different fire safety strategies. The present paper illustrates a method that takes into account several well-known methods, even some that were developed as far back as in the early seventies. The method is named "FLAME" (Fire Risk Assessment Method for Enterprises). FLAME considers fundamental fire safety aspects instead of making use of sophisticated and time-consuming methods like CFD. FLAME uses the "Fire Safety Concept Tree", which is explained in detail in the NFPA 550 Standard, as a reference scheme. The method allows the risk to the occupants to be evaluated separately from the risk to the building. Over the years, we have tested the method considering different kinds of buildings and occupancies. We here report the results of an application of the FLAME method to hospitals and health-care facilities. Overall, about 300 compartments (overall size of about 60,000 m(2)) were analysed, including two hospitals of about 200,000 m(2)each. The results of the risk estimation with the FLAME code have been found to be coherent with Italian fire code prescriptions. About 44% of the compartments were defined as being at a Medium risk and 39% as being at a high risk (according to the Italian Fire Code). More than 60% of the hospital compartments were defined as being at a High risk. A good agreement was obtained between the RSET results with those of the method proposed in FLAME when using the current performance-based regulation criteria. The RSET estimation in FLAME considers the occupants' behaviour and the actual characteristics of the occupants in clinics or hospitals, who often have difficulties due to reduced mobility or an incapacity to understand emergency instructions.
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This article aims to contribute to discussions and reflections upon the practice and theory of fire safety design. Are we reaching the results we want by the best available means? The theoretical framework of fire safety design is...
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This article aims to contribute to discussions and reflections upon the practice and theory of fire safety design. Are we reaching the results we want by the best available means? The theoretical framework of fire safety design is today restricted by a linear design process where mainly quantitative data and methods matters. A deterministic approach to safety ignores the decision-making context and considers each objective in isolation. Alternative methods for the fire safety design could view the design work as an iterative problem solving process between the designers and the stakeholders. Then decision making theory can be applied to solve the problem. In the iterative process key objectives are identified and the problem and its solutions are being reframed, creative inherently, safer (cannot fail) and fail safe (forgiving to errors) alternatives are initially aimed at. Design should further embrace a function-centred view of the human-technology-structure system. A utilitarian evaluation that includes also qualitative factors can identify the best trade-offs between conflicting objectives. With a diversity of perspectives on fire safety design, the field of fire safety will be strengthened and be able to assist a rapidly changing world.
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This paper addresses an issue rarely contemplated in the management of historical buildings, fire safety. There is an implication that "compliant" means "safe" and that the goals and objectives of compliance are perfectly aligned ...
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This paper addresses an issue rarely contemplated in the management of historical buildings, fire safety. There is an implication that "compliant" means "safe" and that the goals and objectives of compliance are perfectly aligned with those of fire safety. In the case of historical buildings, this is a mistake that has resulted in the loss of major historical buildings through the centuries. This paper presents a framework of analysis that uses adequate tools to evaluate and establish true performance assessment. The objective is to adequately define and implement the goal of fire safety. This paper is not a traditional research paper in that it does not describe experiments, computations or analysis. Instead, this paper proposes, through an example of application, a critical overview of problems incurred when evaluating fire safety on the basis of solutions issued from prescriptive approaches. In the process, this paper highlights the value of a comprehensive performance-based approach. A performance-based analysis emphasizes an approach to design that values the inherent features of historic buildings. This could potentially result in minimum and rational alterations that meet the goals of fire safety while also achieving other restoration objectives.
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The primary cause of machinery space fires is cited as the release of flammable oil mist contacting unprotected hot surfaces. With this being common knowledge why do we continue to see this type of incident reoccurring on ships ca...
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The primary cause of machinery space fires is cited as the release of flammable oil mist contacting unprotected hot surfaces. With this being common knowledge why do we continue to see this type of incident reoccurring on ships carrying thousands of passengers to precarious destinations? We review regulatory and Class requirements with respect to fire safety, Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) as a rule-making instrument of the IMO, accident investigation recommendations involving fire, fire safety technology, and research literature. For each constituent of fire safety control, the paper aims to determine the preferred strategies for accident prevention and their relative cost effectiveness. Subsequently, the cost effectiveness of the current safety approach is established. This review found that fire prevention could be made more cost effective if its scope was broadened beyond the detection of proximate events occurring immediately before ignition. The findings suggest that more cost-effective safety measures can be developed by addressing systemic causes of fire. Removal of the systemic causal factors of fire from the equation, means we can address fire safety prior to the moments before ignition when the point of no return can unwittingly be passed. The paper suggests directions of how this can be achieved.
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When fires occur in the OR, they are devastating and potentially fatal to both patients and health care workers. Fires can be prevented by understanding the fire triangle and methods of reducing fire risk, conducting fire risk ass...
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When fires occur in the OR, they are devastating and potentially fatal to both patients and health care workers. Fires can be prevented by understanding the fire triangle and methods of reducing fire risk, conducting fire risk assessments, and knowing how to respond if a fire occurs. This Back to Basics article addresses the basics of fire prevention and the steps that can be taken to prevent fires from occurring.
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