Wednesday 29 August 2012

Expert calls for new fire safety regulations for recycling plants 



24 Aug 2012
Following a number of fires at recycling plants across the UK, including a major blaze in London on August 12th, an industry expert is calling on the government to introduce new fire safety regulations for these buildings.
Speaking to New Civil Engineer, independent fire consultant Fathi Tarada said recycling plants should be forced to introduce fire suppression systems, even if they only have one storey and are less than 18 metres tall - the point at which fire suppression becomes mandatory under current legislation.
He said that since most recycling facilities are only on one level, they are not obliged to install these systems, and many see it as a costly project that would be of little benefit to them.
But, he claimed, there are other factors that should be taken into account, insisting it is time that the regulations were re-examined in light of recent incidents.
"The cost to society of inhalation of toxic fumes, evacuation of nearby premises, the cost of fire service attendance, the risk to fire fighters and the down-time associated with facilities being out of service for a long time following a fire are not factored into such cost/benefit consideration," Mr Tarada remarked.
Examples of fire suppression systems are sprinklers, gaseous agents and wet and dry chemical agents.

From @Fireindustry

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