Fire Risk Assessment

As part of the fire risk assessment all premises must provide adequate means of fighting a small fire.

All extinguishers should be coloured red, (BS EN3). However 5% of the extinguisher surface area may be colour coded with a label.
Many establishments may still have whole body colour extinguishers (blue/cream/black), these may continue in use until the end of their useful life and then be replaced by the requisite red extinguishers.

Where this is a risk that confusion may be caused by installing red BS EN3 extinguishers and whole body colour type extinguishers in the same work area, then it is good practice to replace all extinguishers in the area with new BS EN3 extinguishers and re-utilise any displaced whole body colour extinguishers elsewhere.

The standard colours are:-

• Red-Water Combustible material, wood, paper, textiles and general refuse but NOT electrical equipment and NOT liquid fires.
• Cream-Foam Flammable liquids but NOT electrical equipment.
• Blue-Dry Powder Good general purpose use, including flammable liquids, gas and electrical equipment.
• Black-Carbon Dioxide Flammable liquids, gasses and electrical equipment.
• Green-Halons (vaporising liquid) Flammable liquids, gases and electrical equipment.

Water and foam extinguishers must NEVER be used on fires involving live electrical equipment as they can expose the user to the risk of serious electric shock.

Halon extinguishers (e.g. BCF) can produce toxic vapours in confined spaces. Their use in schools is not normally recommended. Deep fat fires are best tackled with a glass fibre blanket which will effectively smother the flames. Jets from spray extinguishers can spread burning liquid fires if not used with care.

Fire appliances must be kept in suitable locations so that they are readily accessible at all times. In most cases they should be mounted on the wall so that the handle is at a convenient height (usually about 1 metre from the floor). The locations must be permanent so that they become familiar to all staff. When sited in workrooms or areas, they are usually best as near to the door as possible, but away from any part of the room where the fire risk is greatest.

A notice indicating the location of fire fighting equipment should be displayed where the location of the equipment is not obvious or in areas of high risk.

All fire fighting appliances should be serviced annually by a competent person. The date of inspection should be noted on a label fixed to the extinguisher. Between inspections, a routine visual examination will identify any that become damaged and need attention. Any that have been discharged must be recharged as soon as possible. All details of inspections, training and maintenance must be recorded in the fire log book and any significant findings added to the fire risk assessment