Previous to the development of Class F fire extinguishers there was no satisfactory fire extinguisher alternative that could deal effectively with cooking fat fires which is a general term for any animal fats and vegetable oils like rapeseed, sunflower, palm and olive oil used in cooking.

Be aware that there are different types of “chemical” fire extinguisher that involve some kind of chemical reaction to suppress a fire, dry powders for example, but it is important to realise that only wet chemical extinguishers are effective on cooking fats and that no other type of extinguisher is approved for a cooking oil fire. The Class F extinguishers contain a “Wet Chemical”, typically potassium acetate, carbonate, or citrate that reacts with the fats through a process called saponification to form a soapy foam that smothers the fire. The chemical reaction is also endothermic i.e. it absorbs heat so lowering the surface temperature of the oil to prevent re-ignition.

Owners and operators of food processing and commercial catering and retail food outlets should be aware that you must provide a Class F fire extinguishers in any commercial premises having fryers containing more than three litres of cooking oil, as a legal requirement of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. When it comes to buying a wet chemical extinguisher you should also ensure it conforms to British Standard BS7937-2000 and is CE marked if you want to satisfy a visiting Fire Safety Officer.

Class F fire extinguishers in common with other types of fire extinguisher have fire ratings according to their filled capacity to help you choose an extinguisher appropriate to the fire risk. The ratings on Class F extinguishers vary from 15F to 75F which as a rough guide you can translate in terms of the maximum number of litres of oil contained in any one fat fryer,  e.g. a 75F rating equates to 75 litres of oil and requires a 6 litre wet chemical extinguisher to cover the risk.

Even more recently a multi-purpose Class ABF foam extinguisher has been introduced as a cost effective alternative for home and leisure use and in small mobile type food outlets. These use a foam additive solution rather than a potassium based wet chemical and can also be used on solid combustibles and petroleum liquid fires. It is horses for courses when it comes to making your choice but if your fire risk is primarily safeguarding cooking fires be aware that a typical 2 litre Wet Chemical is 60% more effective than the equivalent sized ABF extinguisher.

The common or garden filing cabinet is often used to store Contracts, deeds, confidential company records, financial and personnel reports and other sensitive business papers but the security of the contents is limited to preventing unauthorised access and offers little or no protection if a fire should break out on the premises.

The key difference with Fire resistant filing cabinets is that they are designed and independently tested to prevent the internal temperature of the cabinets from reaching the self-ignition temperature of paper for up to two hours. This is almost certainly enough time for the fire service to attend and bring the fire under control. Paper can self-ignite at just 177 degrees Celsius whereas an average fire will burn at upwards of 600 degrees. As steel is a good conductor of heat the temperature in a standard single skin file cabinet will rise very quickly and even though the cabinet itself may remain largely intact any paper contents will be totally destroyed.

Fire filing cabinets also offer far greater security against unauthorised access as well as protection against file fires. Sophisticated digital locks, fire safe quality locking bolts and selective draw by draw access controls allow complete security access management. On many models each drawer is independently protected for fire proof filing so documents are protected in the event a drawer is left open during a fire incident.

Taking a value approach to fire risk assessment should include a review of the impact on your business of losing valuable and sensitive documents and files to fire. It is almost certain that the business benefits of an investment in a fire proof file cabinet will far outweigh the cost and will ensure your business can function effectively in the immediate aftermath of a fire.

In practice water extinguishers should only be used for tackling fires involving common combustible materials like wood, paper and similar solids collectively termed Class A fuels by fire safety professionals. However there are some fairly common solids specifically metals like magnesium, aluminium and sodium that water will not extinguish effectively although fortunately such fires are rarely encountered outside specialist manufacturing facilities.

More common are fires involving flammable liquids like petrol and oil. Using a water fire extinguisher on such fires is a useless endeavor and potentially dangerous. Burning liquids will simply float on the water, as the water runs off it carries the fuel with it spreading the flames further. Similarly water fire extinguishers have no effect on burning flammable gases like butane propane and natural gas as the water molecules are too large to displace the air borne oxygen supporting the combustion process. It is for this reason that fires on oil rigs are so difficult to extinguish even though they are literally surrounded by water. At best applying water will merely prevent fire spread in the solid structure.

Also common in the home and at work are fires in electrical equipment from televisions and cookers to computers and photocopiers. Once again using a water fire extinguisher has some major drawbacks. Firstly if it is not possible to turn off the power, or more likely, if in the heat of the moment (pardon the pun) you forget to do so, then selecting the red labeled water extinguisher from the fire point is to put your life at risk. The water will quite probable suppress or even extinguish the fire but it is also a great conductor of electricity. The continuous jet of water between the extinguisher in your hands and the target fire connects you to the electricity coursing through the equipment. End result electrocution!

Even if you have the presence of mind to switch off the power applying water to electrical equipment you will further damage circuitry and electronics and may contaminate other equipment like your digital box or a printer not directly involved in the fire making the chances of repair minimal and the asset losses greater.

You should also be wary of using water extinguishers in the kitchen environment. Spraying a burning cooking pan with a high pressure jet of water is a recipe for disaster. For one the water jet will likely splatter and spray the burning fats around the kitchen spreading the fire. Secondly however hard you try the water will not extinguish the fire as like petrol the fat will just float on top, the pan will overflow further and the fire will spread.

When used for common Class A type fires water outshines any other type of extinguisher for economy and efficiency but knowing its limitations will ensure the safety of you, your family and work colleagues.

The commonest misconception is that a multipurpose ABC Dry Powder for use on Class A, B and C fires is somehow just an upgraded BC Powder extinguishers.

A class BC extinguisher contains Sodium Bicarbonate and came into use in the late 1920′s to tackle flammable liquids and gases now called Class B and Class C fire respectively. They could also be described as the first Carbon Dioxide extinguisher as in the heat of the fire the Sodium Bicarbonate undergoes a chemical reaction that produces a cloud of carbon dioxide that drives off the oxygen smothering the flames.

Just like actual Co2 extinguishers it is not reliably effective on Class A fires involving solid combustibles as once the gas dissipates and the air oxygen returns the retained heat in the fuel can cause re-ignition. Flammable liquids and pressurised flammable gases retain little heat so do not re-ignite.

ABC fire extinguishers on the other hand contain ammonium sulphate. They are effective on solid combustibles because the heat of the fire causes the powdered chemical to melt even at a relatively low temperature. The effect is to smother the fire and form a continuous barrier layer preventing oxygen reaching the fuel.

Generally a BC rated extinguisher will outperform a multipurpose ABC of the same size on flammable liquids and gases.

Another fire extinguisher powder to look out for is Potassium Bicarbonate which has double the fire fighting capacity of sodium bicarbonate on Class B flammable liquids. Potassium Bicarbonate and Urea Complex is better known, in the UK at least as Monnex Dry Powder. Its superior performance makes it the extinguisher of choice for the oil and gas industry and interestingly in motor sports such as Formula 1 due to its ability to knock down high octane fuel fires. In the heat of the fire the Monnex powder fragments into smaller particles creating a larger surface area for free radical inhibition a process that should really be viewed as the fourth element of a fire tetrahedron together with the Oxygen, Fuel and Heat we associate with the Fire Triangle. Again Monnex is not effective on Class A fires.

So when choosing Powder Extinguishers make sure you assess the fire risk you are trying to safeguard and choose the extinguisher best suited to the task.

Carbon dioxide extinguishers suppress fires by displacing oxygen thereby taking away the oxygen element of the fire triangle. Although carbon dioxide is very cold as it comes out of the extinguisher, this does not mean they are suitable for Class A fires involving solid combustibles like paper, wood and fabrics as insufficient oxygen may be displaced to successfully put the fire out. Class A materials may continue to smoulder and may re-ignite.

Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers are primarily intended for use on Class B fires which include flammable liquids such as petrol, oil, diesel, (excluding cooking oil), some solid fuels like wax. In addition as carbon dioxide is also non-conductive and unlike powder and foam leaves no harmful residue that may damage or contaminate sensitive circuitry they are commonly recommended for fires involving electrical equipment. Co2 extinguishers are not effective on flammable gases.

The combination of properties of Co2 have applications in laboratories, clean rooms, engine compartments, generator rooms, boats and flammable liquid storage areas. They are also commonly found in offices and server rooms containing computer equipment.

Although they are rated for use on flammable liquids they should not be used on cooking oil fires as the ice cold high pressure discharge will splash the burning and spread the fire further.

Carbon dioxide extinguishers are not really suitable for dealing with fires outside as the gas quickly disperses, so are generally restricted to indoor use. On the other hand be aware that carbon dioxide replaces the oxygen in the air which can lead to asphyxiation when discharged in confined spaces, so take care to ventilate the area as soon as the fire is under control.

Weight for weight AFFF is a substantially more effective fire suppressant than water. A 6 litre foam fire extinguisher has the same fire rating as a 9 litre water both of which carry a 13A approval. The net difference in weight is close to 4kg or 9lbs in old money. Certainly for commercial offices, businesses and residential blocks this provides an opportunity to utilise this advantage to install more manageable lighter weight units without compromising on fire safety.

There is also a cost saving to be gained by opting for a foam extinguisher as at the time of going to press our standard 6 litre foam fire extinguisher is just £22.50 compared to £25.25 for the 9 litre water as a high proportion of the ex- works cost is in the canister itself.

If weight and cost and saving were not enough unlike water the film forming properties of AFFF foam extinguishers make them highly effective at combatting Class B flammable liquid fires, typically petrol, diesel , paints and solvents. A 6 litre foam fire extinguisher has an impressive 144B rating. This added versatility makes them ideal for garages and petrol forecourts and they are the extinguisher of choice for motor sports in general. On a much larger scale AFFF foam is also used extensively at airports applied from large mobile extinguishers or tenders to form a fire suppressive blanket.

Boat, caravan and recreational vehicle owners can also take advantage of this versatility with models now available in 1 and 2 litre capacities.

Since the demise of our local village shop I am obliged to visit the next village to collect my Sunday newspaper. In so doing I pass the regular Sunday morning car boot sale in the same village. As I drove through I noticed a chap leaving the car boot lugging a red fire extinguisher.  I only caught a passing glance but thought it unusual to find fire extinguishers for sale on a car boot.

The newsagent is just a couple of hundred yards from the car boot and as I left the shop the chap with the extinguisher had caught me up. He was outside another shop in the arcade and had placed the canister on the ground whilst he unlocked the door so I had a better look as I returned to my car. It was clearly a 6 litre water extinguisher but I could see no BS EN3 kitemark or even a CE mark and worse still the safety pin was missing.  I recognised the new owner as the proprietor of the shop which is a cafe and chippy which I visit occasionally when we fancy fish and chips.

Now it could be that the extinguisher was intended for some legitimate purpose even though it was clearly not fit for purpose, but the idea of a water extinguisher in proximity to scalding hot fat made me more than uneasy. There is a big difference between genuine approved kite marked budget fire extinguishers as found on our web site and car boot seconds of suspect provenance. The few pounds he may have saved may cost him thousands if the fire inspector calls and finds his “bargain” deployed in the shop. I regret to say I walked on by without putting him in the know but will be on the lookout the next time I call in and may summon the courage to mention the potential pitfalls.

In the home this is all part of the living experience but in the workplace the consequences of not having a viable first aid kit will lead you to fall foul of the Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 that obliges that “An employer shall provide or ensure (provision of) such equipment and facilities as are adequate and appropriate in the circumstances for enabling first aid to be rendered to ……employees if they are injured or become ill at work”

Attitudes to Risk Assessment and the workplace environment has moved on since 1981 and British Standards with advice from HSE, has produced a new standard BS 8599 for workplace first aid kits that replaces the old British Healthcare Trade Association (BHTA) guideline. We will be phasing in the new kits over the next few weeks to meet the required implementation date of December 31st.

The new Standard has revised the product and equipment content of workplace first aid kits to improve safety provision for both patient and first aiders. The Standard details 3 sizes, small first aid kits, medium first aid kits and large first aid kits appropriate to the size of the workforce and the level of workplace safety risk but all will contain the same basic contents in varying quantities.

First aid Kits to BS 8599 will contain the following:

• First Aid Plasters – more quantity
• Nitrile Gloves – more quantity
• Sterile Wipes – more quantity (now must meet the European CE marking rules)
• Medium and Large Dressings – fewer quantities
• Triangular Bandages – fewer quantities
• Finger Dressings
• Burns Gel Dressing – modern burns gel with a conforming bandage to attach and retain it
• Adhesive Tape in addition to Safety Pins allowing a choice of application
• Shears – for cutting clothing around wound sites to allow first aid treatment.
• Foil Emergency Blanket – clinical shock presents a serious life threatening risk to a casualty, Foil blankets keep the casualty dry and warm
• Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation Device to protects the first aider from cross infection
• First Aid Guidance Leaflet – with latest HSE guidance

Note that eye wash is not on the list although it is recommended in Travel First Aid Kits for employees on the move and separate eye wash stations should be provided in high risk workplace areas.

The BS 8599 Standard does differentiate between low risk environments including offices, retail, libraries etc. and high risk such as construction, engineering and process plants. By example in an office a small size first aid kit to BS 8599 is ok for up to 25 employees but you need a large size kit for every 25 employees in a high risk workplace.

Specialist workplace environments require more specialist First Aid provision and we will continue to supply “blue plaster” Catering First Aid Kits and PSV first aid kits conforming to the new standard.

Then the BMA publishes its annual crackpot scientific review on the dangers of cigarette smoking calling for smoking to be banned in (private) cars. The report asserted children in cars were subjected to 23 times the level of toxins from cigarettes than they would compared to a smoke filled bar. As we quite rightly no longer have smoked filled bars this assertion seemed based on dubious science. When challenged, the BMA had to quickly backtrack reducing its figure to “nearer 11″ before admitting the measurements were taken in cars with windows closed and the air-conditioning in recirculation mode. I think more lives could be saved by urging drivers to carry emergency safety equipment such as a fire extinguisher, a travel first aid kit and a lifehammer to break a window and let the kids escape if the doors are jammed in an accident.

Next I read a story that shows the rise in CCTV cameras monitoring our kids in school has reached epidemic proportions with several schools boasting a camera to pupil ratio approaching 1 for every 6 kids. Even the school toilets that last bastion of privacy have succumbed to the official pupil snooper. The Heads at these schools defend their blanket surveillance strategy as essential to prevent misbehaviour and vandalism. They may need reminding that due to EU human rights excesses the day has long gone when our children held the slightest fear of retribution for doing anything wrong.

To cap it all another article reported that atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels have “shot up” by 2.5 ppm to 390 or so. The climate change doom mongers are never that hot on detail or margins of error but how convenient are the findings with the Kyoto climate change conference just weeks away. Smoking a cigarette creates carbon dioxide as does a car but not I suspect as much as manufacturing CCTV cameras.

Traffic death rates are three times greater at night, yet many of us are unaware of the hazards that night driving poses or effective ways to minimise the risk. It is therefore all the more important to prepare for your journey and take sensible safety precautions to protect you and your passengers.

Start out by ensuring the vehicle is roadworthy. Check for blown bulbs, check tyre pressures and oil levels, fill the screen wash tanks and check the cabin demist is working.
When driving at night follow these tips on safer driving

• Use your lights responsibly – Turn headlights on one hour before sunset and leave on for at least half an hour after sunrise to make it easier for other drivers to see you in early twilight. Use your high beams sparingly at all times but in fog use low beam headlights in conjunction with fog lamps if you have them.

• Avoid glare – Don’t look directly at oncoming headlights and use the day night shift on the rear view mirror to prevent glare from following traffic.

• Keep all windows and headlights clean – Dirty windows diffuse light and can increase glare, making it more difficult to see, while dirty headlights can reduce efficiency by as much as 90 percent.

• Be alert – Look for flashes of light at hilltops, curves and junctions that may indicate the headlights of approaching vehicles.

• Increase your following distance – Increasing your distance by four to five seconds can make it easier to spot potential problems on the roadway and give you more time to react safely.

• Avoid fatigue - Night driving can be tiring, so on long journeys ensure good ventilation inside the cabin, and take frequent refreshment breaks to give your eyes a chance to recover. Take a short nap or a brisk walk, or have some caffeine to help you stay alert.

• Glasses- Anti-reflective (AR) coating reduces internal reflections in the lenses. AR-coated glasses also transmit more light than regular lenses which can improve vision at night.

Finally if we have anything like the winter of last year you should also consider equipping the car with a winter survival pack to get you out of trouble should you break down or become stranded.
Carry at least one reflective warning triangle in case of a vehicle breakdown, so you are as visible to other drivers as possible.  A snow shovel and small tub of icemelt is a must to escape from drifts and icy roads. To sustain body and mind having warm weather proof clothing, rugged rigger boots, a blanket, thermos and a supply of high energy food would be a potential lifesaver.

If you have more tips for our readers then let us know.