By Hans Stacey 19/04/2016

Under: Fire Safety

Fire Risk on Building Sites: What You Need to Know

As with most of these risks, the law specifies fire safety guidelines to be followed by anyone responsible for a building site, from appropriate training to safety equipment.

Types of Hazard
The temporary state of everything on a building site means almost anything has the potential to be a fire hazard. Broadly, though, they fall into two categories.

Combustible materials cover everything from timber and uncleared rubbish, which can help a fire spread, to substances that could easily ignite. Oxygen tanks and LPG are among the most obvious, but something as simple as sawdust filling the air coudl be a flashpoint.

Ignition sources are anything that might set off a spark or flame. Operations that create heat, such as welding, are obvious risks, but also plant, equipment and electrical installations must be appropriate to the setting and used correctly. Needless to say, neither open fires nor smoking should be allowed in a fire-risk area.

Fire Safety Equipment
Following proper guidelines and training all employees and contractors to be safety-conscious can reduce the risk of fire but not eliminate it. There needs to be fire safety equipment at all risk points, such as fire extinguishers appropriate for the likely type of fire, such as CO2, powder, foam and water, all of which are sold by Enfield Safety.

A construction site also needs a fire alarm, but this can be a problem. It would be prohibitively expensive if you needed to wire in a complex system for a large site, not to mention having to move call points and sounders as and when the work locations shift.

The ideal solution is to use a wireless fire alarm, such as the Defender Wireless Fire Alarm System sold by Enfield Safety. A wireless system is far more cost effective, especially as it needs no expensive installation, and it's simple to move the units to whatever part of the iste they might be needed.

You don't sacrifice breadth of coverage either with a wireless fire alarm system. The Defender allows up to 40 addressable call points to be connected with each base station, and the 108 decibels of the sounders will prevent the alarm from being drowned out by the noise of the site. Each of these can be bought separately from Enfield Safety, allowing you to have as many or as few as you need.

Responsibility
If you're responsible for a building site, that includes responsibility for the safety of every person on it. Planning, assessment and training can reduce the risk of fire, but if one does break out, a wireless fire alarm could save lives. 

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