Posted By Lloyd Cole
I believe Q1 is every 30 m.
If you have employees there , you must supply fire extinguishers regardless, plus all signage.
The Fire risk assessment must identify all fixed and portable fire fighting equipment, and maintenance procedures, plus the training regime in place for fire training- all if 5 or more employed......... you MUST also have a written emergency plan detailing above.. Hope this is of help

Posted By Martin Taylor
thanks for the feedback guys.

I must admit I have a problem with the principle of fire extinguishers being a 'life safety' measure.

This may sound sacriligous for a safety professional and will probably get me drummed out of the club but........

When I do my fire risk assessment I make no assumptions about fire extinguisher usage in terms of helping to preserve life. I focus on ensuring that there are adequate means of escape for all and focus on that principle - I have to, I can't assume that even if I have 1 extinguisher for 200m2 and spaced every 30m and train every employee to be competent in the use of an extinguisher that the fire can be safely extinguished.

I can imagine 2 scenarios -
Scenario 1
slow burning fire - can be dealt with by a fire extinguisher but no threat to people evacuating the building. Should I ask a colleague to risk their lives to put out the fire which doesn't threaten lives?
Scenario 2
rapid burnig fire - threat to evacuating people - shoud I put colleague in very significant risk to try and extinguish the fire?

Are fire extinguishers there for life safety or property protection - preventing small fires becoming major fires?

Rant over - does anybody share my view? If you do how do you go about siting extinguishers and do you have any problems with legal compliance.

I do agree that extinguishers must be available in areas where escape may be compromised by fire and they are needed to fight an escape and in areas around flammables usage areas where small fires in the vicinity can be fought to prevent progress to the flammable area

cheers

Martin

Posted By Crim
Martin,

Your fire risk assessment will determine if and how many of what type of extinguisher you will need. There will be occasions when the sprinkler system is out of commission i.e. for maintenance, and then you will need to review the fire risk assessment and ensure provision of adequate fire extinguishers.

Do you have small areas without sprinkler protection i.e. storage cupboards, electrical switchgear rooms, under staircases etc.

Do you cover the heads when decorating? If so there is a need for alternative protection.

What about contractors carrying out hot work, do you provide hand held extinguisher then?

What does the insurance company have to say?

As someone else has stated extinguishers at exit doors are always a good idea,