Reason Magazin 2014Q3 Seite 34

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Although firefighters arrived within minutes they were already too late It was 24 hours before firefighters finally left the scene When they did most of the facility was either in ruins or out of commission On the other hand who has heard of the U K factory that was saved by a rented fire pump The diesel fire pump had been rented to provide cover while a new fire pump was on order A fire in the factory was controlled by the rented pump hun dreds of jobs were saved and the factory is still in business This was a no news story and only made the inside pages of the local newspaper You would think that if the fire pump failed there is nothing to be done about it But following a straightforward procedure and taking some sensible steps meant that when something went wrong the factory was protected and it s still going strong Is there a problem US 951 million is the National Fire Protec tion Association NFPA estimate of the cost of fires each year in industrial and manu facturing property Automatic sprinkler sys tems have been the biggest success story in loss prevention since their invention in the 19th century Estimates are that 38 mil lion sprinkler heads are installed each year Property insurer FM Global s loss statistics show that the average fire loss in an unsprin klered building is five times that of a fire in a sprinklered building Research by the NFPA showed that automatic sprinklers operated in 91 percent of fires large enough to cause actuation In short sprinklers work Mostly Why is this not 100 percent Of the fires in which sprinklers should have oper ated but didn t in nearly two thirds of cases the sprinkler system was shut off before the fire And yet the majority of fail ures could have been prevented with proper training and impairment procedures This means that the rest of the fires reported to the NFPA during the study period were closed valve fires and they can be devastating An investigation into a Q Fire detection system as the activating device for a preaction sprinkler system e g in a data center Q Empty suction tank or loss of main wa ter for pump supply or tank refill Any impairment creates an unusual fire protection hazard It is often perceived that impairments are inevitable and there is nothing that can be done But planning and taking sensible steps can mitigate or even prevent an impairment Managing impair ments in a manner similar to other hazardous operations e g electrical lockout working at heights hot work or confined space entry can set the right attitude in facility person nel It then becomes possible to start to con sider the following questions Is the impairment necessary Some impairments are unavoidable for example modifications to a sprinkler sys tem require the system to be drained and isolated But many can be prevented by considering Is there another way Exam ples include Q If a sprinkler system has a small leak move stock or equipment out of the area or cover anything beneath with a tarpaulin Then leave the sprinkler sys tem live until repairs can be made It is rare for a leaking roof to shut down an entire facility and the same approach can be taken with sprinklers Q If working at ceiling level manage work in a way that limits the possibil ity of damaging active sprinklers If the risk cannot be alleviated isolate but do not drain down the sprinkler system and include in the emergency plans a designated person to reopen the valve Remember to restore the impairment at the end of shift Q Isolate only a section of a looped main rather than closing down an entire system Is the impairment for the shortest dura tion possible Once the need for the impairment is fatal 1987 fire in an urban apartment tower block discovered that the main water valve had been closed for months if not years before the fire What is an impairment An isolated fire protection system is termed impaired Impairments are either planned for routine system maintenance or unplanned as a cause of sudden component failure or system activation FM Global s working definition of an impairment is A planned or unplanned shutdown of a fire protection system which will impact the operation or reliability of the fire protection system regardless of the reason for or the duration of the shutdown and of the pres ence of backup systems such as dual fire pumps Fire pumps sprinkler valves and gas eous protection systems commonly require impairments for servicing or following component failure But sometimes further consideration can identify other examples of failure including Q Electrical supply to electric fire pump i e power outage 951 million is the National Fire Protection Association NFPA estimate of the cost of fires each year in industrial and manufacturing property in US 34 Reason ISSUE 3 2014 theSCIENCE