2 ISSUE 15 • 2010 • WWW.FIA.UK.COM Continued from page 1


companies are competent to place the right extinguishers in the right places with the right (and easy to understand) operating instructions and signage in place. The excuse we are fi nding


for not promoting the use of extinguishers is that ‘we cannot guarantee that people have been properly trained’! A very poor excuse as training is readily available and fairly simple. The size of fi re seems to be the contentious point. It’s not clearly defi ned. Convention says ‘not larger than a waste paper bin size’. Those in the industry know the test fi res, used to certify the fi re ratings on extinguishers, are very signifi cant and whilst the people testing the equipment are ‘expert’ in extinguishing the test fi res, the test fi res are


not ‘waste paper bin’ sized – a very signifi cant safety factor is built in. So what else can we conclude from the data? The general interpretation seems to be that an extinguisher (irrespective of size) will put out a small fi re. Once a fi re becomes too big - it is diffi cult to tackle with any size or any number of extinguishers. The full results are published


as a news item on the fi a. uk.com website alongside the 2003 report. The FIA will continue to champion the use of portable fi re extinguishers which provide a common sense solution to extinguish fi res before they develop to a size that threatens life, property and business continuity. *Complete data available from the FIA if required


Where known what burnt? • 26% Oil/fl ammable liquids • 22% Vehicles • 19% Electrical • 17% Waste bins/rubbish • 13% Cooking oils/grease Where known the ignition source was: • 59% - Electrical • 36% - Hot work (welding, grinding, sparks etc) Where success and extinguisher size is known: • Large or Large plus medium/small extinguishers were successful in 86% of incidents


• Medium or Medium plus small extinguishers were successful in 89% or incidents


• Small extinguishers used only were successful in 91% of incidents (NB: Large = 9ltr water-based, 9kg powder, 5kg CO2; Medium = 6ltr water-based, 4kg to 6kg powders; Small = 2ltr to 3ltr water- based, 1kg to 3kg powder, 2kg CO2)


3ltr water based (where used) all put out the fi re irrespective of whether they were correct for the risk. Fires that were not put out were tackled by a variety of sizes - 9ltr waters and 9ltr foams were ineffective in some incidents of class A and class B fi res respectively; similarly 2kg CO2 units were unsuccessful in putting out electrical fi res.


IS THERE AN ALAN SUGAR OUT THERE? T


he FIA’s apprenticeship scheme will be operating again this year and we


would like to hear from any member organisation that is interested in taking on an apprentice.


It has long been agreed that there is a need to encourage new blood into the fi re industry and what better way than with an apprentice? An apprentice brings many benefi ts to a company, not least in the reduced cost compared to employing an experienced


engineer. Funding for an apprentice will be provided by Skills for Security, which will reduce the fi nancial burden and administration. The company will also gain a positive image for investing in new staff and satisfaction from training someone into the fi re industry. There are several colleges in the UK


that provide the training courses, located in Wincanton, Gloucester, Birmingham, Uxbridge, Yeovil and Belfast. In May the job centres in each region were


sent information promoting the scheme and providing information for local distribution. The scheme has also been promoted on the FIA website and press releases have been sent to fi re and educational media together with the relevant regional media. So if this sounds exciting and you


would be interested in taking on an apprentice please contact Ian Gurling at the FIA on 020 3166 5002 or by email at igurling@fi a.uk.com.


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