Firefighter Injuries lowest in past 20 years

A new report by the NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) details the numbers for firefighters in 2010 and the news is good news because 2010 saw a 8.0% decrease in firefighter injuries.

Other numbers reported…

Overview of 2010 Firefighter Injuries

• 71,875 firefighter injuries occurred in the line of duty in 2010, a decrease of 8.0%.

• In addition to injuries, there were 11,200 exposures to infectious diseases, and 25,700 exposures to hazardous conditions.

• 32,675 or 45.4% of all firefighter injuries occurred during fireground operations. An estimated 13,355 occurred at nonfire emergency incidents, 4,380 while responding/returning from an incident, 7,275 during training activities, and 14,190 occurred during other on duty activities.

• The Northeast reported a higher number of fireground injuries per 100 fires than other regions of the country.

• The major types of injuries received during fireground operations were: strain, sprain, muscular pain (52.8%); wound, cut, bleeding, bruise (14.2%); burns (5.9%). Strains, sprains, and muscular pain accounted for 59.0% of all nonfireground injuries.

• The leading causes of fireground injuries were overexertion, strain (25.7%) and fall, slip, jump (22.5%).

The chart below is the most encouraging news, showing the slow but steady decline firefighter injuries since 1981

“It’s Fire Prevention Week. Protect your Family from Fire!”

Commemorating a conflagration
Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871.

According to popular legend, the fire broke out after a cow – belonging to Mrs. Catherine O’Leary – kicked over a lamp, setting first the barn, then the whole city on fire. Chances are you’ve heard some version of this story yourself; people have been blaming the Great Chicago Fire on the cow and Mrs. O’Leary, for more than 130 years. But recent research by Chicago historian Robert Cromie has helped to debunk this version of events.

The ‘Moo’ myth

Like any good story, the ‘case of the cow’ has some truth to it. The great fire almost certainly started near the barn where Mrs. O’Leary kept her five milking cows. But there is no proof that O’Leary was in the barn when the fire broke out – or that a jumpy cow sparked the blaze. Mrs. O’Leary herself swore that she’d been in bed early that night, and that the cows were also tucked in for the evening.

But if a cow wasn’t to blame for the huge fire, what was? Over the years, journalists and historians have offered plenty of theories. Some blamed the blaze on a couple of neighborhood boys who were near the barn sneaking cigarettes. Others believed that a neighbor of the O’Leary’s may have started the fire. Some people have speculated that a fiery meteorite may have fallen to earth on October 8, starting several fires that day – in Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as in Chicago.

In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. According to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center, Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record. The President of the United States has signed a proclamation proclaiming a national observance during that week every year since 1925.

Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned
During National Fire Prevention Week, attention is focused on promoting fire safety and prevention, however we should practice fire safety all year long. Many potential fire hazards go undetected because people simply do not take steps to fireproof their home.

Fire’s can happen anywhere at any time.

It’s human nature to think bad things only happen to “the other person,” but the fact is that bad things can happen to good people. Everyone thinks they’ll never have a fire, but the figures tell a different story. In fact, the chances are that you will experience at least one home fire in your lifetime – a fire serious enough to call 911.

 

 

 

Simple things like testing the water before putting a child in the bath may sound like common sense. Wearing short or close-fitting sleeves when cooking on the stovetop may show foresight. This and other simple actions may be all it takes to prevent devastating burns. Many bedroom fires are caused by misuse or poor maintenance of electrical devices, careless use of candles, smoking in bed, and children playing with matches and lighters.

 

Most potential hazards can be addressed with a little common sense. For example, be sure to keep flammable items like bedding, clothes and curtains at least three feet away from portable heaters or lit candles, and never smoke in bed. Also, items like appliances or electric blankets should not be operated if they have frayed power cords, and electrical outlets should never be overloaded.

 

Each year more than 3,600 Americans die in fires – the worst fire record in the modern, industrialized world. About two-thirds of these fire-related deaths happen at home, and many of them during the night while victims sleep. Those statistics are sobering and ENMR•Plateau wants all employees to know they can help protect themselves and their loved ones from fire with 10 easy steps.

 

1. Make sure everyone in the family understands the dangers of fire. Remember to stay low below door knob level when getting out of the smoke. If you have a towel/washcloth to cover your face and breath through it should help with some smoke inhalation. Additionally, Use the back of your hand to feel if the door knobs are hot indicating fire burning on the other side.
   
2. DON’T PLAY WITH MATCHES!   Teach kids that matches, lighters, lighter fluid, gasoline and candles are tools, not toys. If you suspect that a child is playing with fire, check under beds and in closets for telltale signs like burned matches. Matches and lighters should be stored in a secure drawer.
   
   
3. Limit the use of extension cords; make sure the cord can carry the power load it is being used with.
   
   
4. Develop a home fire escape plan; let your kids help to identify two ways to escape from each room.
   
   
5. Practice your fire escape plan; a good time is when you test your smoke detectors monthly.
   
   
6. Change those smoke detector/CO2 batteries, remember “Change your clocks, change your batteries” (Nov 6th, 2011 Daylight Savings Ends).
   
   
7. Avoid clutter in the home or office, keep fire escape exits clear. You don’t want to have to navigate through cluttered halls when trying to escape an emergency.
   
   
8. Portable heaters should be kept away from all combustible items and have a minimum 3 feet clearance when in use.
   
   
9. Never store combustibles near hot water heaters or in a furnace room.
   
   
10. Have an ABC type fire extinguisher charged, serviceable and in an easy access area (preferably the kitchen).
    
    

Fire extinguishers are divided into four categories, based on different types of fires. Each fire extinguisher also has a numerical rating that serves as a guide for the amount of fire the extinguisher can handle. The higher the number, the more fire-fighting power. The following is a quick guide to help choose the right type of extinguisher.
Fire Extinguisher

* Class A extinguishers are for ordinary combustible materials such as paper, wood, cardboard, and most plastics. The numerical rating on these types of extinguishers indicates the amount of water it holds and the amount of fire it can extinguish.

 These are the symbols seen on a Class A extinguisher.
* Class B fires involve flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil. The numerical rating for class B extinguishers indicates the approximate number of square feet of fire it can extinguish.
* Class C fires involve electrical equipment, such as appliances, wiring, circuit breakers and outlets. Never use water to extinguish class C fires – the risk of electrical shock is far too great! Class C extinguishers do not have a numerical rating. The C classification means the extinguishing agent is non-conductive.
* Class D fire extinguishers are commonly found in a chemical laboratory. They are for fires that involve combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, potassium and sodium. These types of extinguishers also have no numerical rating, nor are they given a multi-purpose rating – they are designed for class D fires only.

Some fires may involve a combination of these classifications. Your fire extinguishers should have ABC ratings on them.

*Class K (kitchen) fires, was added to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 10 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers in 1998.

Here are the most common types of fire extinguishers:

* Water extinguishers or APW extinguishers (air-pressurized water) are suitable for class A fires only. Never use a water extinguisher on grease fires, electrical fires or class D fires – the flames will spread and make the fire bigger! Water extinguishers are filled with water and pressurized with oxygen. Again – water extinguishers can be very dangerous in the wrong type of situation. Only fight the fire if you’re certain it contains ordinary combustible materials only.
* Dry chemical extinguishers come in a variety of types and are suitable for a combination of class A, B and C fires. These are filled with foam or powder and pressurized with nitrogen.
o BC – This is the regular type of dry chemical extinguisher. It is filled with sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate. The BC variety leaves a mildly corrosive residue which must be cleaned immediately to prevent any damage to materials.
o ABC- This is the multipurpose dry chemical extinguisher. The ABC type is filled with monoammonium phosphate, a yellow powder that leaves a sticky residue that may be damaging to electrical appliances such as a computer

Dry chemical extinguishers have an advantage over CO2 extinguishers since they leave a non-flammable substance on the extinguished material, reducing the likelihood of re-ignition.
How To Use A Portable Fire Extinguisher

Remember the term PASS when you go to use a portable fire extinguisher.

 

P =
Pull the pin.

A =
Aim extinguisher nozzle at the base of the flames.

S = Squeeze trigger while holding the extinguisher upright.

S =
Sweep the extinguisher from side to side, covering the area of the fire with extinguisher contents.

 

In Case Of Fire

Report It! – Report the fire
immediately no matter what size of the fire. CALL 911.

Fight It! – If a fire is small, and you have a safe exit, you may try to fight it after you report it.

Escape It! – If the fire is large escape is your best choice.

Many fires start in the kitchen, usually due to distraction. Stove top cooking is a serious activity and requires full attention. Don’t put something on the stove and leave to watch television. Keep dish towels, pot holders and decorations at least a foot away from the stovetop. Even though they may not be on the burner, radiated heat can cause them to ignite. Keep an oversized pot lid available. Should a fire occur in the cooking pot, place the lid over the pot, turn off the heat, and don’t remove the lid for at least 15 minutes.

 

If a fire does occur and your clothing happens to catch fire, you should remember the “Stop, Drop, and Roll” technique. This could prevent serious burns to you or a family member.

Fire safety is not difficult. It only requires awareness and common sense to keep families and homes safe from fire. Please remember to make sure your cigarettes are fully extinguished before leaving the area. By taking preventive measures can keep a family from becoming a fire statistic.

 

 

Today’s blog post is courtesy of
Ken Oswald

Safety and Security Manager for ENMR·Plateau

koswald@plateautel.com

 

Chimney/Fireplace Safety Tips

Sept 25-Oct 1st is National Fireplace/Chimney Safety Week

Anatomy of Your Fireplace

When most people think of chimneys, they think of fireplaces. Memories of cold winter evenings, relaxed and cozy in front of a crackling fire are hard to beat, and the ability of an open fire to soothe the wild beast within us all is legendary. Since the dawn of time, humans have gathered around the open fire for a sense of safety and community and the fireplace is still the focus of family living in many homes, especially around the holidays. But in spite of all the glowing aesthetics, there are some practical considerations. When you’re dealing with an element as capricious and potentially dangerous as fire, knowledge really is power, so please read on to learn how to make your fireplace both safer and more enjoyable. Let’s start with a quick anatomy lesson, and a brief explanation of commonly used terms: Fireplaces come in two general types, masonry fireplaces built entirely of bricks, blocks or stone and mortar, and factory built fireplaces consisting of a lightweight metal firebox and a metal chimney. (There are a few hybrids too, the most common being a heavy metal firebox and smoke chamber coupled to a regular brick chimney). A masonry fireplace has a firebox built of individual generally yellowish firebrick, a brick chimney above the roof, and if you look up past the damper you will see a roughly pyramid shaped affair also built of brick. A prefab fireplace generally has a firebox of cast refractory panels, and usually some metal is visible in the room all around the firebox. If you look up past the damper you will see a round metal chimney. And above the roof is more round metal chimney, sometimes surrounded by a simulated brick housing. Chimney fire, don’t let it be your house this fall/winter!! Top 10 Wood burning Tips from CSIA   To aid in the prevention of chimney fires and carbon monoxide intrusion and to help keep heating appliances and fireplaces functioning properly, the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) offers the following safety tips: 1. Get an annual chimney check. Have chimneys inspected annually, and cleaned as necessary, by a qualified professional chimney service technician. This reduces the risk of fires and carbon monoxide poisonings due to creosote buildup or obstructions in the chimneys. 2. Keep it clear. Keep tree branches and leaves at least 15 feet away from the top of the chimney. 3. Install a chimney cap to keep debris and animals out of the chimney. 4. Choose the right fuel. For burning firewood in wood stoves or fireplaces, choose well seasoned wood that has been split for a minimum of six months – one year and stored in a covered and elevated location. Never burn Christmas trees or treated wood in your fireplace or wood stove. 5. Build it right. Place firewood or fire logs at the rear of the fireplace on a supporting grate. To start the fire, use kindling or a commercial firelighter. Never use flammable liquids. 6. Keep the hearth area clear. Combustible material too close to the fireplace, or to a wood stove, could easily catch fire. Keep furniture at least 36″ away from the hearth. 7. Use a fireplace screen. Use metal mesh or a screen in front of the fireplace to catch flying sparks that could ignite or burn holes in the carpet or flooring. 8. Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Place detectors throughout the house and check batteries in the spring and fall. When you change your clocks for Daylight Savings Time (November 6, 2011), remember to check your batteries. 9. Never leave a fire unattended. Before turning in for the evening, be sure that the fire is fully extinguished. Supervise children and pets closely around wood stoves and fireplaces. 10. The CSIA recommends annual inspections performed by CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps. These chimney sweeps have earned the industry’s most respected credential by passing an intensive examination based on fire codes, clearances and standards for the construction and maintenance of chimney and venting systems. The National Fire Protection Association also recommends that all chimneys are inspected on an annual basis. Chimney/Furnace maintenance is vital to your family’s safety:    Be sure to read the manual for your fireplace or stove, and keep it handy. Every model is different and you’d be wise to know the particulars for safe and enjoyable use. Install and maintain smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. Change that smoke detector battery!! Burn only well-seasoned and dry firewood.! Empty the ashes from previous fires before starting a new fire. Manufactured fire logs create a clean burning fire and are an excellent choice. Just be sure to never burn more than one at a time, and let it burn down completely without using a log poker to break it apart. Never put garbage, plastic, or charcoal — or anything else that isn’t firewood — in a fireplace. Keep small children and pets away from a fireplace. Make sure a fire is completely out before leaving the house or going to bed.     How to Select Firewood   Firewood is an area where you can have great influence over how well your system performs and how enjoyable your experience will be. Quality, well seasoned firewood will help your wood stove or fireplace burn cleaner and more efficiently, while green or wet wood can cause smoking problems, odor problems, rapid creosote buildup and possibly even dangerous chimney fires. A few minutes spent understanding firewood will be time well spent, so please read on for general background information, as well as how to buy wood and store wood. Seasoned Wood All firewood contains water. Freshly cut wood can be up to 45% water!, while well seasoned firewood generally has a 20-25% moisture content. Well seasoned firewood is easier to start, produces more heat, and burns cleaner. The important thing to remember is that the water must be gone before the wood will burn. If your wood is cut 6 months to a year in advance and properly stored, the sun and wind will do the job for free. If you try to burn green wood, the heat produced by combustion must dry the wood before it will burn, using up a large percentage of the available energy in the process. This results in less heat delivered to your home, and literally gallons of acidic water in the form of creosote deposited in your chimney. Wood is composed of bundles of microscopic tubes that were used to transport water from the roots of the tree to the leaves. These tubes will stay full of water for years even after a tree is dead. This is why it is so important to have your firewood cut to length for 6 months or more before you burn it, it gives this water a chance to evaporate since the tube ends are finally open and the water only has to migrate a foot or two to escape. Splitting the wood helps too by exposing more surface area to the sun and wind, but cutting the wood to shorter lengths is of primary importance. There are a few things you can look for to see if the wood you intend to purchase is seasoned or not. Well seasoned firewood generally has darkened ends with cracks or splits visible, it is relatively lightweight, and makes a clear “clunk” when two pieces are beat together. Green wood on the other hand is very heavy, the ends look fresher, and it tends to make a dull “thud” when struck. These clues can fool you however, and by far the best way to be sure you have good wood when you need it is to buy your wood the spring before you intend to burn it and store it properly. Storing Firewood Even well seasoned firewood can be ruined by bad storage. Exposed to constant rain or covered in snow, wood will reabsorb large amounts of water, making it unfit to burn and causing it to rot before it can be used. Wood should be stored off the ground if possible and protected from excess moisture when weather threatens. The ideal situation is a wood shed, where there is a roof but open or loose sides for plenty of air circulation to promote drying. Next best would be to keep the wood pile in a sunny location and cover it on rainy or snowy days, being sure to remove the covering during fair weather to allow air movement and to avoid trapping ground moisture under the covering. Also don’t forget that your woodpile also looks like heaven to termites, so it’s best to only keep a week or so worth of wood near the house in easy reach. With proper storage you can turn even the greenest wood into great firewood in 6 months or a year, and it can be expected to last 3 or 4 years if necessary. Buying Firewood Firewood is generally sold by volume, the most common measure being the cord. Other terms often employed are face cord, rick, or often just a truckload. A standard cord of firewood is 128 cubic feet of wood, generally measured as a pile 8 feet long by 4 feet tall by 4 feet deep. A face cord is also 8 feet long by 4 feet tall, but it is only as deep as the wood is cut, so a face cord of 16″ wood actually is only 1/3 of a cord, 24″ wood yields 1/2 of a cord, and so on. Webster defines a rick simply as a pile, and truck sizes obviously vary tremendously, so it is very important that you get all of this straight with the seller before agreeing on a price; there is much room for misunderstanding. It is best to have your wood storage area set up in standard 4 or 8 foot increments, pay the wood seller the extra few dollars often charged to stack the wood, and warn him before he arrives that you will cheerfully pay only when the wood actually measures up to an agreed upon amount. Another thought concerning getting what you pay for is that although firewood is usually sold by volume, heat production is dependent on weight. Pound for pound, all wood has approximately the same BTU content, but a cord of seasoned hardwood weighs about twice as much as the same volume of softwood, and consequently contains almost twice as much potential heat. If the wood you are buying is not all hardwood, consider offering a little less in payment. IF YOU SUSPECT (OR KNOW) THAT YOU HAVE A CHIMNEY FIRE: Call the Fire Department by dialing 911. Never try to remove burning logs from your fireplace. Use water or a fire extinguisher to put them out. Fire extinguisher is best. Be careful with putting water on the fire. On one hand, the steam created with a glass or two of water may put out the fire – or at least cool it down significantly. However, there is a possibility that the sudden cooling could crack any glass door/screen, or cause damage to mortar or other components. Ask a certified fireplace inspector or consult your factory stove / fireplace manual. If you suspect a chimney fire, get everyone out of the house immediately and call the fire department. If you can do so safely, put out any fire in the stove or fireplace and close the damper. (Some fast-burning chimney fires produce dense smoke and flames shooting out the top of the chimney, often accompanied by a rumbling sound inside the chimney. Slow-burning chimney fires are much harder to detect but can also cause serious damage to the chimney and, possibly, to the house.) If you suspect that you have had a chimney fire, do not use the fireplace again until a chimney sweep has checked it for any hidden damage.  Information provided by Chimney Safety Institute of America.

Today’s blog post comes to us courtesy of Ken Oswald

Safety and Security Manager for ENMR·Plateau

koswald@plateautel.com

 

Falls and Fires! Window Safety from LAFD

Windows! They keep us connected to the outside world when we are indoors; they provide light and they allow us to keep out the cold or let the outside air in. They can also be a source of danger and the danger is two-fold. On the one hand we have to make sure that they open properly and easily to allow us to get out if we need to use them as an exit in case of fire; on the other hand they need to be guarded so that small children don’t fall out of or through them. Especially when the weather gets hot, windows tend to stay open a lot. Toddlers fatalities resulting from children falling from windows increase during the warm months.

The Los Angeles Fire Department’s website gives us a list of 9 tips for window safety. They are:

1. Windows provide a secondary means of escape from a burning home. Determine your family’s emergency escape plan and practice it. Remember that children may have to rely on a window to escape in a fire. Help them learn to safely use a window under these circumstances.
   
2. When performing household repairs, make sure windows are not painted or nailed shut. You must be able to open them to escape in an emergency.
   
3. Keep your windows closed and latched when children are around. When opening windows for ventilation, open windows that a child cannot reach.
   
4. Set and enforce rules about keeping children’s play away from windows or patio doors. Falling through the glass can be fatal or cause serious injury.
   
5. Keep furniture — or anything children can climb — away from windows. Children may use such objects as a climbing aid.
   
6. If you have young children in your home and are considering installing window guards or window fall prevention devices, be aware that the window guards you install must have a release mechanism so that they can be opened for escape in a fire emergency. Consult your local building code
   officials to determine proper window guard placement.
   
7. Some homes have window guards, security bars, grilles or grates covering windows. Those windows can be useless in an emergency if they do not have a functioning release mechanism. Test them today because time is critical when escaping a fire.
   
8. Do not install window unit air conditioners in windows that may be needed for escape or rescue in an emergency. The air conditioning unit could block or impede escape through the window. Always be sure that you have at least one window in each sleeping and living area that meets escape and rescue requirements.
   
9. The degree of injury sustained from a window fall can be affected by the surface on which the victim falls. Shrubs and soft edging like wood chips or grass beneath windows may lessen the impact if a fall does occur.
   

You can read the complete article on the LAFD website here.

Get Noticed, Stay Protected!

Got Arc Flash issue? FR issues? Log on and register for this Webinar by National Safety Apparel, one of the top FR clothing manufacturers.

 

Flame Resistant hi-visibility garments by National Safety Apparel – Get Noticed, Stay Protected!

Join us for a Webinar on July 21       Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/938887266    Come join NSA as we discuss our flame resistant hi-visibility garments, ranging from our widely used HRC 1 mesh vests to our warm, rugged HRC 2 sweatshirts. Our FR & Hi-Visibility Dual Action garments meet the requirements of ISEA/ANSI 107-2010, NFPA 70E level 2 and ASTM 1506 for Flame Resistance and other performance measures. We will also touch on key industry standards and who they apply to.   Key Discussions: • ANSI 107 & NFPA 70E update • NSA’s product offering • Functionality & key characteristics Thanks for joining us!     Title: Flame Resistant hi-visibility garments – Get Noticed, Stay Protected! Date: Thursday, July 21, 2011 Time: 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT     After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Do you know what to do when a fire breaks out?

As much as we all would like to think we would know what to do and how to act when a fire breaks out, statistics show that most of us don’t. Panic and fear takes over and everything we thought we knew goes out the door.

With that in mind, here’s a reminder of correct operating procedure. Even if you think you know it… reread it. You can’t be reminded too often.

When a fire start

1. Sound an alarm. Set off the fire alarm; yell if necessary.
2. Get everyone away from the fire. Get everyone out of the building.
3. Call the fire department.
4. If the fire is small enough to battle with a fire extinguisher do so but make sure you understand when to get out and make sure that you don’t get cornered or trapped by flames. Remember that flames can suddenly and rapidly spread.
5. Stand by to direct the fire department when they arrive.

Things to know about BEFORE a fire starts

1. The phone number of the fire department
2. Your address
3. Where the fire extinguishers are
4. What the evacuation plan is (including primary exit and secondary exit)

 

Top Ten Things to Watch for at Home

Having just finished the “Deadly Dozen” of conditions and unsafe acts, as applied to the workplace, I wanted to now turn my attention to the home. I don’t have 12, but I do have 10.

The home is supposed to be a haven, a place of rest, a place of safety. Unfortunately, in many cases, it is anything but. It reminds me of the guy who moved 12 miles away from where he used to live. When asked by his friend why he moved he answered “I heard that 80% of accidents happen within 10 miles of your home so I moved 12 miles away”

There’s a guy who didn’t quite understand the nature of the problem. The truth of the matter is that a home can be a safe place with a better understanding of the nature of the issues that cause accidents in the home.

Today’s number one…

1. Unattended cooking
   

I think that I’ve probably already mentioned it before… I have a relative who almost burned her house to the ground because she put some oil on the stove and ran upstairs while it was heating up and forgot about it. The result was a kitchen fire that almost destroyed the whole house. She was able to get herself and her son out of the house so no one was injured but a few more minutes and it might have been a whole lot worse. As it was it cost a lot of money and a lot of time to fix the smoke and water damage from the fire department. The truth is that unattended cooking is still the number one cause of home fires.

The Fix

1. Don’t leave! I don’t care how good your memory is and how short a time you’re going to be gone, DO NOT LEAVE something on the stove and leave. It is simply to easy to get distracted and forget. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for a fire to spread rapidly and become unmanageable.
2. Always have a lid nearby. The fastest way to put out a fire once it has started is to starve it by putting a lid on the pan.
3. Keep baking soda nearby as well. Baking soda will also starve a fire of oxygen and won’t cause splatters or explosions. NEVER PUT WATER ON A KITCHEN FIRE. Water and oil don’t mix and when water hits hot oil, it causes an explosion that will send droplets of oil all over the place, spreading the fire and causing serious burns.
4. Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Understanding the potential danger of hot oil or grease on a stove; seeing how fast it can spread can be an eye-opening experience. Because we cook every day, we tend to get complacent and careless but the fact is that your stove can be extremely dangerous.

While I’m warning you about the stove… make sure that the handles of all pots and pans on the stove are always turned inward, especially if you have small children.

Even if you don’t have small children, it is so easy to accidently bump the handle if it’s hanging off the edge.

 

Unsafe Conditions – The Deadly Dozen # 3

3. Fire and explosion hazards

A quick scan in Wikipedia of the worst industrial accidents of the past few years make obvious how serious today’s unsafe condition is; fires and explosions make up a huge percentage of the accidents. Just this past year, sugar dust at Imperial Sugar caused an explosion that was labeled “the deadliest industrial explosion in the United States in decades” (See the 4 posts on this blog concerning this explosion).

More lives are lost through fires and explosions than any other industrial accident. Conditions that are conducive to fires and explosions cannot be tolerated in the workplace.

The Fix

It is obviously beyond the scope of a daily post on a blog to try to solve the issues of fires and explosions in the workplace. A great place to start, however is “The Basics of Fire Safety” which is part of our “Basic Safety” series. Understanding the fire triangle, understanding combustibles, to chemical safety, … all of these are crucial.

For a proper assessment of the potential problems in your workplace, hire a professional, have the fire department do a walk-through, hire an industrial hygienist to do a proper evaluation.

It may cost a bit of money to have all this done but compared to the cost of the lives involved (not to mention the fines which, for Imperial Sugar amounted to $8,777,500) it is nothing.

Burning the Thanksgiving Day Turkey

Thanksgiving is just a few days away. It’s supposed to be a day of family gatherings, good food, counting blessings and relaxation. For too many, however, it will be anything but.

A new 12 page report released by the USFA (U. S. Fire Administration) outlines the findings concerning fires on Thanksgiving Day.

Here is a sampling of the statistics that can be found in the report which is accessible in the USFA’s website here.

• An estimated 2,000 Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings are reported to U.S. fire departments each year and cause an estimated average of 5 deaths, 25 injuries, and $21 million in property loss.
  
• Smaller, confined fires account for 71 percent of Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings.
  
• Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings occur most frequently in the afternoon hours from 12 to 4 p.m., peaking from noon to 1 p.m.
  
• Cooking is the leading cause of all Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings at 69 percent. Nearly all of these cooking fires (97 percent) are small, confined fires with limited damage.
  
• Electrical malfunctions (14 percent), carelessness or other unintentional actions (14 percent), and open flames (13 percent) are the leading causes of the larger, nonconfined Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings.
  
• Nonconfined Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings most often start in cooking areas and kitchens (22 percent).
  
• The leading category of factors contributing to ignition of nonconfined Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings is the “misuse of material or product” (35 percent). Within this category, heat source too close to combustible materials and abandoned or discarded materials account for 14 percent and 9 percent of all nonconfined Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings, respectively.
  
• No smoke alarms were present in 20 percent of nonconfined Thanksgiving Day fires in occupied residential buildings.

The 12 page report provides a whole lot more information. Understanding the dangers, the origins and the whys of Thanksgiving Day fires is the first step to making sure that your home doesn’t become one of the 2,000 who’ll experience a Thanksgiving Day fire this year.

Propane Torch Safety

Propane torches can generate temperatures in excess of 2,000 degree Fahrenheit. It only stands to reason therefore that extreme caution must be taken when they are being used. A few simple safety rules will ensure that accidents and injuries are avoided.

• Always inspect all the hoses, the fittings, the valves and all the connections before lighting the propane torch.
• Never, under any conditions, should you leave the torch unattended.
• Always make sure that the torch is never pointed at anyone.
• When you are finished using the torch, turn off the gas and make sure to burn off all the remaining propane from the hose.
• Never use a torch near combustible materials. Monitor closely when using the torch on wooden deck.
• Always wear the appropriate PPE when using a torch, including eye protection and leather gloves.
• Monitor the work area for at least one hour after you have used a propane torch for any signs of smoldering and hot spots. If possible, check under the deck for any early signs of fire.
• Always keep the propane torch at least 10 feet away from the propane cylinder.
• Never use a match or a lighter to ignite the flame. Always use a spark lighter in order to make sure that your fingers and hand are well away from the flame source.