Getting real about fire suppression

When suppressing a fire, every second counts. In an industry like mining, fires can start and spread very quickly and for a number of reasons. And once a fire spreads, it immediately compromises the safety of workers and equipment.

According to a recent report from the New South Wales Resources Regulator, there has been a slight decrease in incidents involving fire on mobile plant for the period since amendments were made to the Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2014 in February 2020.

This is no doubt a positive step in the right direction; however, it remains vital that a mining operation has the appropriate safety equipment in place.

One of the leaders in providing safety products is JSG Industrial Systems, which supplies Muster fire suppression systems to the market.

Muster’s products are designed to minimise harm to mining operators and equipment by suppressing and controlling a fire, giving any workers in danger an opportunity to retreat.

Muster’s fire suppression systems include features that have been touted by customers around the world, such as 24–7 integrity monitoring and easy-toread system diagnostics.

The fire suppression system range features a foam-based system, an aerosol system, an impulse powder system, the transferable unit for fire fighting (TUFF) system, and portable fire extinguishers and accessories.

At the heart of every system is the Muster alarm panel, which monitors the integrity and automatic activation of the fire suppression system.

Safe to Work spoke with MusterFire International product manager Vince Atkinson, who said JSG including fire products in its portfolio was a natural way for the company to expand.

“JSG worked very closely with a lot of earthmoving companies with lubrication, fuel and flow products, and it seemed like a natural progression for that offering to include fire as well,” Atkinson said.

“The drive behind this is that it provides a frontline safety system for operators and owners of equipment to protect their equipment from the threat of fire, which is ever present in the types of environments that these machines operate in.”

Atkinson said the fire system helps to provide customers with muchneeded peace of mind.

“The primary objective is safety for the people who are operating the equipment and making sure that everyone gets to go home at the end of the day,” he said.

“The secondary objective is that if the system is designed well, it will in most cases provide extinguishment of a fire and therefore protect the asset from experiencing significant damage because of a fire event.

“Largely, if the system is designed right through the fire risk assessment process, then we do manage to not only protect the operator but also save companies from investing a lot of money in repairs

According to JSG Industrial Systems national product sales manager of fire suppression Dale Sharpe, the fire suppression system range from Muster is extremely reliable.

“One thing a customer doesn’t like is if they have a third-party system fitted to their machine and it causes them

“The Muster fire suppression system is reliable. Customers are going to be able to operate day-in, day-out with very minimal downtime caused by the fire system.”

Sharpe said a stand-out feature of the fire suppression system is its panel and data-