Risk Management
The importance of education in fire mitigation TO LIMIT THE LOSSES OF A MINE-SITE FIRE, PLANT OPERATORS SHOULD KNOW HOW TO RESPOND WHEN AN INFERNO HITS. A FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM IS NOT THE ONLY CONSIDERATION.
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ire management in the mining industry is not only imperative for health and safety reasons, but also to preserve the viability of mining operations. Fires lead to machinery breakdowns, which leads to downtime and reduced productivity. The cost of damages is also immense. With more than 40 years of experience behind the company, Fire Forensics has forged a reputation for its astute understanding of arguably the world’s most dangerous adversary. It’s the company’s passion and obligation to arrive on site to determine how and why a blaze occurred. It’s also Fire Forensics’ mission to
better educate mining operators about the ongoing risk of mine fires and how they can be mitigated. When an employee is trained in how to operate a mining vehicle, they would gain an understanding in the plant’s fire suppression and emergency stop systems. Fitted with heat detection sensors, fire suppression systems activate when the temperature at a relevant part of the vehicle reaches a certain threshold, indicating a fire. The fire suppression system automatically sprays an extinguishing agent in order to control the fire. These could be powder, liquid or gas depending on the plant.
However, while fire suppression plays a critical role in operator safety, the systems are not expected to extinguish large infernos. “A lot of machinery has fire suppression systems fitted. And these are often automatic, but also have manual controls as well,” Fire Forensics founder and senior fire investigator James Munday told Safe to Work. “But the thing to be aware of with fire suppression is that it is what it says, it’s suppression not necessarily extinction. So it’s designed to hold the fire to a small size. “It will extinguish a small fire if the fire is of the right kind in the right place. But it’s designed to hold fires to a
Refresher training ensures operators remain one step ahead of a fire.
SAFETOWORK.COM.AU 40 MAR-APR 2022
