EU legislation forces major change in fire protection

Citation

(2001), "EU legislation forces major change in fire protection", Facilities, Vol. 19 No. 1/2. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2001.06919aab.007

EU legislation forces major change in fire protection

EU legislation forces major change in fire protection

Keywords: Fire safety

European legislation is set to have a major impact on the management of risks that are protected by halon gas systems from fire. It means that anyone currently using halon urgently needs to identify the most suitable alternative fire protection system and plan for its implementation, as Bernard Holland of Wormaid Fire Systems explains.

Widely-used halon gas fire protection systems are being phased out for environmental reasons and, under EU Regulation 3093/94, can only be used until 31 December 2002.

After this date, if a fire occurs and the halon is released, the system can not be refilled. This means an entirely new system will have to be designed and installed, during which time the risk will be without protection. Furthermore, under the regulation, all halon installations have to be replaced by 31 December 2003.

The fire protection industry offers a number of halon replacement extinguishants including chemical, CO², inert gaseous systems, sprinklers and watermist systems to enable current halon users to protect critical areas.

Critical areas are those where, if a fire should occur, the damage to vital assets would have a serious effect on the viability and survival of the business itself. Fires in critical areas are a significant factor in that while 28 per cent of businesses recover from a fire, 43 per cent never reopen, and a further 30 per cent close within three years.

Choosing a halon replacement

While the forthcoming ban on halon will involve users in choosing a replacement, this is also a unique opportunity to choose a long-term, efficient and environmentally friendly fire extinguishing system.

In choosing a halon replacement fire protection system it is necessary – and desirable – to fully assess the risk that is being protected. This involves taking account of both the safety of employees and the risk to the manufacturing process, plant or equipment itself.

In order to achieve a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the risks, an organisation needs to identify the vital or critical areas around which its very business is centred.

What is a critical area?

A critical area is identified by a detailed risk analysis of the area, including the possibility of a fire occurring there, and the consequential effects or damage that this would cause to the business. This critical area may well be a computer room, a telecoms room, a switchgear room or a power source for a vital process, each of which clearly needs protection from fire and the disruption it would cause.

Having identified the critical area, it is important to choose the correct system to protect it from fire. A range of systems are available, although not all will be appropriate or equally effective in every case. Therefore, in addition to the careful identification of the critical area itself, it is important to consider a number of main factors that should be addressed when choosing a fire suppression system for critical area protection. These are:

• •

  Early fire detection, which ensures that normal processes can continue, increases the opportunity to save lives, and prevents the unnecessary discharge of the fire suppression system.

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  The fire fighting effectiveness of the system.

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  The potential of the system to damage sensitive equipment or property.

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  The potential of the system to present a hazard to occupants.

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  The potential of the system to create an adverse impact on the environment.

Having considered these factors, the risk assessment should identify an optimum system that is not only effective, but which is clean, non-corrosive, odourless and colourless. It should also be environmentally friendly with zero ozone depletion and zero global warming potential, and be sustainable in the long term – not being susceptible to future legislation which may limit or prevent its use.

Qualifying products

Three fire protection products meet these requirements:

1. 1.

   Inergen – a mixture of nitrogen, argon and carbon dioxide which extinguishes fire by reducing the oxygen level in the area to below the point at which most combustibles will no longer burn. Inergen has been installed in more critical risk areas throughout the world than any other inert gas. It is fast, effective, safe, environmentally friendly and provides excellent fire protection for critical areas.

2. 2.

   Carbon dioxide – CO² has been used longer than any other gaseous fire suppression agent to protect unoccupied areas, and today's systems utilise sophisticated detectors, high-tech control panels and computer aided design to provide effective and reliable fire protection. CO² is an odourless, colourless, non-corrosive gas suitable for the protection of hazards where ordinary combustibles, flammable liquids and gases and live electrical equipment are present.

3. 3.

   Protectomist – this family of high pressure and low pressure watermist systems extinguish fires by reducing the oxygen at the flame front and rapidly cooling surface areas. Protectomist can be designed to completely fill the protected area with a blanketing mist that quickly engulfs even sheltered areas.

Fire engineered solutions

While each of these meets the main criteria for a critical area fire suppression system, it is clearly important that the correct system is chosen for each particular application. Wormaid Fire Systems believes this requires a fire engineering approach which recognises the effectiveness of each fire product in any chosen situation.

This approach is based on the early detection of a problem, accurate confirmation of the problem, and effective extinguishment of the fire in a fully automated mode, using any of, or a combination of, the following:

1. 1.

   Fire detection and control equipment

2. 2.
   • •

     Air sampling detection systems (ASD) which provide early warning of fire conditions.

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     Analogue/addressable detection systems.

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     Conventional detection systems.

3. 3.

   Fire suppression systems:

4. 4.
   • •

     inergen;

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     CO²; and

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     watermist (high and low pressure).

Conclusion

The imminent demise of halon as a fire suppression agent gives all users the opportunity to think again about how they protect their employees and assets from fire, which can strike at the very heart of a business, badly disabling it or destroying it altogether.

Whether your critical area is a computer suite or a telecoms room, an archive or laboratory, a manufacturing process or flammable liquid usage, by identifying the risk and using a fire engineered approach to finding the optimum halon alternative, you can be sure that your organisation has done everything it can to protect itself.

Bernard Holland is product manager, critical area fire suppression systems, for Wormaid Fire Systems, a division of Tyco Fire & Security, the world's largest fire protection company.

For further information contact Mark Thomas, Spire Public Relations. Tel/Fax: +44 (0) 1844 299299; E-mail: mark@spire.demon.co.uk