Sunday, November 22, 2009

What Every Good Fire Extinguisher Training Session Must Include

By Robert Brant

Everyone around the world needs to know how to use a fire extinguisher; however, there is not nearly enough information about fire extinguisher's that can be found. There are safety programs in almost every company where fire safety is only mentioned very briefly and not in very much detail.

It is a good idea to practice fire extinguisher training at least once every month, and the training should include explanations of the various parts of a fire extinguisher, and what the labels say and mean. These details are rather important to know because in the chance there is a fire the person who must operate the fire extinguisher must know what the labels mean as they can put themselves in danger by applying the wrong type of fire extinguisher on the wrong type of fire. This can be disastrous because in an instance where there is an electrical fire, a person can mistakenly use a water-filled extinguisher, and that will result in the operator being electrocuted. This is why it is so important to have proper fire extinguisher training.

Fire Extinguisher labels state what type of fire that a particular fire extinguisher is used for. These extinguishers have been designated before hand by the fire safety committee and the proper fire extinguisher should be placed in its proper place depending on what type of fire could possibly be caused. Many times a work area may have more than one type of fire extinguisher in an area; this would mean that a fire could be caused from say electricity, wood or paper.

There are codes to classify fires such as A, B, C, D, and K in the USA. An A type of fire has a green triangle label, and that signifies that it is made for a garbage or wood fire. The B code is labeled as a red square, and it is used if the fire is fuel based. A C code has a blue circle label, which means that the fire extinguisher is used for electrical fires. An extinguisher with the D code has the label of a yellow star and is used for burning equipment. K class is used in a restaurant setting where grease fires may occur. Keep in mind that these codes vary depending on the country.

There is a website on the internet called SafetyVideosNow. This website goes into great details in fire extinguisher training and fire safety. The site offers a quick 5 minute training video, as well as other types of safety videos.

Some videos go over OSHA lockout and tagout procedures and their importance. The site also talks about MSDS and hazardous material information, what a MSDS safety data sheet is, and how important the labels and sheets are to people which work around the hazards. You can choose any item on the left bar to go through all the different kinds of safety training tips. The site also provides some training in all kinds of construction equipment also, such as tool shop safety procedures, forklift safety, back lifting safety, and even back injury prevention.

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