Health and safety in the workplace: fire prevention
While waiting for the decrees of the Consolidated Law, some information about the static or passive fire protection. The fire resistance of structures, compartmentalisation, the safety distances. The maintenance of the REI doors.
Full implementation of the Consolidated Law on health and safety in the workplace you will only be issued when all the decrees referred to in the articles of the legislation.
Some of the decrees of implementation, now missing, concerning activities related to fire prevention.
Let's start by Legislative Decree 81/2008 that Article 46 (Fire Prevention) provides in paragraphs 3 and 4:
Article 46 - Fire Prevention
(...)
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Legislative Decree 8 March 2006, n. 139 and the provisions relating to fire prevention pursuant to this Decree, the Ministers of the Interior, Labour and Social Welfare, in relation to risk factors, adopt one or more decrees in which they are defined:
a) the criteria for detecting direct:
1) measures to prevent the occurrence of a fire and to limit the consequences if it occurs;
2) precautionary statements;
3) methods of inspection and maintenance of the installations and fire-fighting equipment;
4) criteria for the management of emergencies;
b) the characteristics of the particular service of prevention and fire protection, including the requirements of staff and their training.
4. Until adoption of the decisions referred to in paragraph 3 shall continue to apply the general principles of fire safety and emergency management in the workplace in the Decree of the Minister of the Interior on 10 March 1998.
Pending the decrees referred to in Article 46, make the point on fire prevention in the workplace with particular reference to the decree of the Minister of 10 March 1998. To do so we focus on a document Ispesl, titled "Fire Training".
Let's see what is indicated on the static or passive fire protection.
In particular, the passive protection consists of:
- Fire resistance of structures;
- In compartments;
- In the distances of fire safety.
Fire resistance of structures
For fire resistance means - as indicated by circular No 20 November 1982. 52 - the time during which a building element (component or structure) retains the following requirements:
- Mechanical stability (symbol R);
- Keeping the flames, smoke and gases (symbol E);
- Thermal insulation (symbol I).
And thus the acronym REI, followed by a number, "expresses the time, in minutes, for which a construction element - or a door retains the characteristics of stability, sealing and thermal insulation, from the moment in which it was subjected to 'action of fire. For example, a door REI 60 resists to 60 minutes of exposure to the flames. "
This acronym is an indispensable reference for "to assess the compatibility between the fire resistance of a given structure of a building and the fire load inside of that."
Please remember that the value of the fire load (circular 14 September 1961, 91) for a certain room, floor or building structure is obtained by calculating all the combustible material present, the equivalent of wood per m2 depending on the power heating value of wood equal to 4,400 Cal / kg (unit of measurement of calorific value).
Compartmentalization
The compartmentalization of building structures (such as the horizontal partition, such as the floors, the vertical partitions, such as partition walls and doors), are "building elements having predetermined characteristics of fire resistance that are made (or installed), in function requirements for fire prevention and that allow:
- The containment of the spread of fire (or are delaying the spread) in a small area, giving people the opportunity to reach these dangers without safe places or areas in the open air;
- Adequate protection to escape routes, with particular reference to the emergency stairs (stairs 'protected', 'a smoke test'). "
In the paper, we invite you to view, are given tables showing the strength of the vertical partitions (walls) and horizontal (floors), depending on the materials and thicknesses. In the case then that the "compartmentalization of a building structure (or part of it) does not have sufficient fire resistance, it is possible to improve the characteristics, by the application of suitable coating materials."
Safety measures
For fire safety distance "means the horizontal distance between an area with the fire hazard and another area."
These distances are of "considerable importance for the preparation of an appropriate fire prevention, especially in areas with high risk of fire, as they prevent, or reduce, the possibility that a fire, developed in a work area, extends in areas adjacent to it. "
In particular, the distances of fire safety can be:
- Internal: eg "between local distinct but belonging to the same activity and the same building structure" or "between separate buildings but belonging to the same activity";
- External: "between buildings belonging to an activity and other buildings where other activities are carried out";
- Protection: "between buildings belonging to the same activity and the boundary of the perimeter."
Finally we respond, through a document published on the site dell'AssoIASA (Association of Italian engineering fire safety and environment), to a question on the frequency of maintenance of fire doors REI.
Like the other fire safety equipment, even the doors REI must be subject to checks by the security officer.
In particular, Annex VI of the Decree of 10 March 1998 indicates that a visual inspection should be implemented aimed at verifying that the equipment and fire-fighting systems are in normal operating conditions, are easily accessible and not damaged materials ascertainable by visual examination. Also what should be a periodic inspection, ie a set of operations to be carried out at least once every six months, to ensure the full and proper functionality of equipment and facilities.
In addition, Article 5 of Presidential Decree 37/98 states that agencies and individuals responsible for activities subject to fire prevention inspections are required to maintain in a state of efficiency systems, devices, equipment and other fire safety measures adopted to carry out checks and monitoring and maintenance in accordance with the timelines that are indicated by the Command in the Fire Prevention Certificate (...).
In the absence of other provisions of the Fire Prevention Certificate, it is therefore necessary to monitor the fire resistant doors at least every six months.
Control to be performed by qualified and competent staff.
16/09/2010
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Translated via software
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Source:
Italian version of CercaGeometra.it