Posted By Colin Williams
I've just been reviewing our risk assessments for storage of flammable liquids in laboratories, and up until now we have used storage cabinets which have 2 hour fire resistance to BS476. With the introduction of BS EN 14470, I was wondering whether we should change to cabinets which meet this spec. - however, they are more expensive and I'm not convinced they add a great deal to "real" safety, or potential building loss in the event of a fire.

Has anyone else looked into the relation of this standard as far as DSEAR is concerned?

Any help appreciated.

Colin

Posted By TONY THORPE
Colin

I must immediately declare my commercial interst as I work for a company which manufactures cabinets according to BS EN 14470-1.Your recent correspondent is absolutely correct in stating that this standard is not mandatory. He is equally correct in emphasising the segregation and security issues. However you should be aware of certain facts;

1.BS 476 (cited in DSEAR 2002, ACOP L136 ) is only concerned with the materials from which safety cabinets are manufactured, not the structure of the cabinet itself. Thus when subjected to a furnace test , the interior of BS476 cabinets take < 5 minutes to reach a temperature of over 180 degrees centigrade. Cabinets manufactured according to BS EN 14470-1 take 15-90 minutes (according to the degree of inbuilt insulation) to reach this condition. In the event of a fire I think you will agree which cabinet style is the safest.

2.I have seen test certificates passing cabinets according to BS476. They pass all the relevant criteria, but there is also a note stating that the cabinets glow red hot ! Combined with point 1 above, I do not need to tell you what will happen to flammable solvents in a very short space of time.

3. The Health and Safety Executive have confirmed that if more than 50 litres of highly flammable solvents are being stored, then cabinets built according to BS 476 will not normally be sufficient to give you the level of safety control required, but that BS EN 14470-1 cabinets would. They say normally because the ultimate responsibility is on the person delegated with making the risk assessment.
One alternative is to store outside, but then you run up against HSE segregation distance guidelines ( a minimum of 2 meters from any boundary, occupied building, source of ignition etc.). This is a more expensive option than BS EN 14470-1 cabinets.

4.Western Europe is adopting EN 14470-1 as the practical standard.

I hope that this brief response is of some help in explaining the fundamental difference between the two standards in terms of safety. I would be pleased to go into more detail if you so wish.

Best Regards


Tony Thorpe