Fire assessment of a lab

Qualitative Risk
Assessments
FIRE 4460
Fire Hazard and Risk Assessment
Nelson C. Dunston
Qualitative Fire Risk Assessments
•
Fire Risk based on subjective judgment of the
probability of a fire hazard or fire scenario, but
also the consequence of such a fire hazard or
fire scenario.
•
Risks are relative measures of risk based on
ranking or separation into descriptive
categories. (low, medium, high; not important,
important, very important; on a scale from 1
to 10.
Methods of Qualitative RA
•
Checklist Method
•
Risk Matrix Method
•
HAZOP Method
•
Event Tree Method
Checklists
•
Help identify fire hazards in unstructured,
qualitative risk assessments
•
Advantages: Tells the non
–
professional what
may constitute a fire hazard. Reminds
professional risk assessor of the range of fire
hazard
•
Disadvantages: Because it is a list, hazards can
be list and may not be all
–
inclusive.
Combustible Materia
ls
•
Products based on
flammable liquids
•
Flammable chemicals
•
Wood
•
Paper and card stock
•
Plastics, rubber, foam
•
Flammable gases
•
Textiles
•
Packaging materials
•
Waste materials (wood
shavings, offcuts, dust,
paper, textiles)
Ignition Sou
rces
•
Matches and smoking materials
•
Electric, gas or oil fired heaters
•
Hot processes such as welding and
grinding
•
Cooking
•
Engines and boilers
•
Machinery
•
Faulty or misused electrical
equipment
•
Lighting equipment (halogen lamps)
•
Hot surfaces and obstruction of
equipment ventilation
•
Friction from loose bearings or belts
•
Static electricity
•
Metal impacts such as metal tools
striking each other
•
arson
Sample List of Combustible Materials and Ignition Sources
–
Not all inclusive
Factors to determine the level of
hazard
from combustible material
•
Ignitability
–
some flammable liquids are easier to ignite
than others; thin items are easier to ignite than thick items.
•
Reaction to fire
–
rate of flame spread, HRR, smoke
production, toxicity
•
Amount
–
the higher the fuel load the greater the potential
rate of HRR and fire severity
•
Orientation
–
vertical, corner and ceiling surfaces and high
–
racked storage tend to increase the rate of flame spread
•
Location
–
materials that are grouped together or near exits
or large numbers of people may present an increased risk.

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