Fire Extinguisher Servicing – The Importance Of Maintaining Fire Extinguishers
First of all I’m going to talk a little about the different types of fire extinguishers, and the color coding system. That directly plays in to when you need fire extinguisher servicing, but a good rule of thumb is that you should have a full service carried out once a year. This is in fact a legal requirement for UK businesses.
Fires are classified in to five groups
The first group is Class A: This class includes organic materials such as, paper, wood, textiles, and clothing material
The Second group is Class B: This class is for flammable Liquids such as gasoline
The third group is Class C: This class is for flammable Gasses, such as acetylene, hydrogen, and other gasses
The fourth class is class D: This class if for fires involving flammable metals
There is a new class F: This class is for fires involving cooking grease, and other liquids like it
Now that you know a little about how the classes of fire extinguishers are setup, it should make a bit more sense to you to do your fire extinguisher servicing every year.
As I said above; you are required to do this annually. Fire extinguisher servicing will give you peace of mind. In a business you are required to have an extinguisher present on the premises at all times. Regular fire extinguisher servicing will guarantee that your equipment is in proper working order.
With all of the different types of fire that I have mentioned in the above list, it should become more clear that a fire is not a simple thing to fight. If you do regular fire extinguisher servicing, you can help to keep a fire at bay until the professionals arrive on the scene.
How does the color coding work?
Water type extinguishers are for class A fires only, and are signal red, with a red label.
A Foam type extinguisher is for class A, and B fires and are red with a cream colored panel above the operating instructions. A Dry Powder type extinguisher is for class A, B, and C fires, and is signified by being red with a blue panel above the operating instructions. A Carbon Dioxide type fire extinguisher is for class A, and (limited) Class B fires, and is signified by red with a black panel above the operating instructions.
A Halon type fire extinguisher, this type is no longer in use in the UK, and is illegal to have, but was used for type A fires in the past. If you have one of these you must arrange for the immediate disposal of it. Wet Chemical type extinguishers can be used for class A fire but are really for class F fires. These are signified by red with a canary yellow panel above the operating instructions. Special Powder type extinguishers are for use on type D fires, are signified by red with a French blue panel above the operating instructions
In conclusion fire extinguisher servicing is required for you to do. It just makes good sense to make sure that your equipment is in top working order.
That way if you have a fire at your home, or business, you can feel safe knowing that your equipment will perform the way that it should.
About the Author
Read more about fire extinguisher servicing on the author’s website, which also includes a free guide on how to carry out your own fire risk assessment. K Garrow has managed large public buildings for the last twenty years and his website includes advice on a range of safety related issues, including a guide to each fire extinguisher class.
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