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By Lynn Proctor Windle
Reprinted from
Building Operating Management, April
2006
Facility executives can improve the fire safety of
buildings by understanding both how and why individual systems work, and how
and why systems work together.
“The most important thing to help improve fire safety is to understand how
all the systems in a building work: The alarms, the means of egress and
passive building systems like fire doors and walls and dampers,” says Chris
Jelenewicz, engineering program manager for the
Society
of Fire Protection Engineers. “Facility executives must understand how
they operate. All of the systems have a common goal and that is to protect
people and property. They work together as one integrated life system. Like
a band, they all do different things, but they play to the same beat. If the
systems don’t work together, they could actually make matters worse.”
Of course, facility executives should make sure that the systems are working
properly in the first place. Individual schedules and checklists for
maintaining and servicing these critical systems for each building should be
developed and implemented.
“Each checklist for each facility is different,” says Keith Domagala,
operations vice president and engineering manager for
Affiliated FM. “Facility executives need to determine what is different
about each facility and develop a plan on what to do.”
The timing of inspections should be in accordance with local codes and
standards, but there are some things codes and standards don’t cover.
A closed sprinkler valve is the most common cause of failure in a sprinkler
system. The valve gets turned off for maintenance and isn’t turned back on,
or a building worker twists it for some reason, not knowing whether it’s
open or closed.
“If the valve to a water fountain is shut off, as soon as you go to get a
drink, you know something is wrong,” Domagala says. “But if the sprinkler
valves are shut off, you don’t know it until there is a fire, and that’s the
danger.”
Valves, including those that supply water to the building, should be checked
weekly to ensure they are open, and a full flow test should be conducted at
least yearly, experts say. Pumps that bring water into the building should
be checked and maintained as well, says Gary Keith, vice president of
building and life safety for the
National Fire Protection Association. The fire pumps should have access
to an adequate water supply and ready access to a fuel supply, whether
diesel or electric.
A main drain test should be included on the checklist. The five-minute test
measures the static pressure and then measures the pressure of water
flowing. The purpose is to determine whether there are any obstructions,
such as broken or frozen pipes, in the system.
This test is particularly important in warm regions that experience
occasional cold weather because freezing precautions usually aren’t routine.
Fire alarm systems and their audibility should be regularly tested as well.
This is mainly important with voice fire alarms. Use fire drills and even
false alarms to determine whether occupants can clearly hear the directions
that are being given.
“When it comes to fire alarms, evacuation information is most important,”
Jelenewicz says. “Building occupants need to know what they’re supposed to
do.”
Control panels should be tested as well. Control panels provide valuable
information, such as pinpointing closed valves and other problems before an
emergency occurs.
Facility executives also should walk the exit routes to make sure no exits
are blocked or locked. Historically, blocked exits are the cause of most
fire-related deaths in commercial buildings, Jelenewicz says.
Security vs. Fire Safety
In the aftermath of 9/11, security measures are more frequently
interfering with life safety systems, Keith says. Emergency exit doors that
lock people in the stairwell and only allow people to exit at the bottom are
one example.
“What if the fire is below? What if they need to evacuate up? Any time you
change security measures, you need to see how it affects life safety,”
Jelenewicz says.
“Post-9/11 security improvements have resulted in unintentional barriers to
fire and life safety,” says Keith. “They’re restricting movement in a
building. Facility executives are looking at keeping people out, and
sometimes these systems work too well. There needs to be a proper balance
between security and fire safety.”
Jelenewicz agrees. “Security and life safety have common goals, but if
security is not coordinated with life safety, then it becomes a hazard.
There needs to be procedures to make sure exit doors aren’t locked or
blocked.”
One way to solve this problem is to connect the locking system of all doors
in the facility to the fire alarm system so that all safe routes offer
unobstructed egress and ingress during an emergency.
All exits, exit ways and discharge points must have adequate and functioning
lighting. This means the lighting system must be checked regularly.
Facility executives also can improve the safety of the building by
exercising common sense. Stairwells and electrical closets should never be
used for storage and flammable materials should be stored away from all heat
sources, says Dan Gemeny, chief engineer for
RJA.
“There seems to be a huge problem with inattention to the storage of
combustibles and flammable materials in the most risky of places,” Gemeny
says. “Some maintenance crews even store trash in the stairwells. They
think, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ They wait until the fire department
comes and babysits them to change the situation. It’s a risky behavior.”
Facility executives should also develop policies for predictable hazards.
For example, hot work, such as cutting, grinding and welding, is often a
cause of fires, according to statistics. Facility executives should develop
policies for contractors and maintenance crews to follow. The process should
include provisions for someone to stand by on fire watch to make sure stray
sparks are extinguished immediately. The procedure should require that a
fire extinguisher be within reach at all times. All combustibles should be
removed from the area. If that’s not possible, they should be covered with a
welding blanket. Removing significant ignition sources reduces the chances
of fire.
When hiring a contractor, the first question to ask, Domagala says, is, “Can
you do what you need to do without doing hot work?”
If there is no way around hot work, then the facility executive must manage
the project directly. Don’t leave it to the contractor to oversee the work.
“Somebody has to manage the work and take responsibility to make sure
contractors are following these safety practices,” Domagala says.
The facility executive also should focus on contingency planning.
“Emergency contingency planning covers unforeseen circumstances, such as
flood or wind or fire,” Domagala says. “Or it can be as simple as a key
piece of equipment breaking down. You need contingency planning so when
something happens you can do the right thing at the right time.”
The contingency plan should cover events that seem unlikely but are still
possible. For example, what happens if a key fire protection or life safety
system fails in the middle of a crisis? What if a fire starts while a system
is down for maintenance? What if a fire breaks out during another disaster,
such as a hurricane?
“Having thorough plans and practices and doing the right thing at the right
time is the difference between a distraction and a disaster,” Domagala says.
As part of the preparation process, facility executives should conduct an
orientation for the local fire department, Keith says.
“Describe what systems are available and have joint documentation so when
something happens, everyone has basic information at their finger tips.”
Know Thy Building
Finally, facility executives should know their buildings inside and
out. What construction components provide for fire and life safety and what
components hinder it? What are the limitations of these systems?
Facility executives must make sure the building is designed for all the
hazards it faces, and understand that if building use changes, then the
hazards change. Sprinkler systems often are designed for a specific hazard.
Warehouses require more water than office buildings. A smoke management
system designed to accommodate an open atrium might be inadequate if a
restaurant is added to the space.
“Facility managers are the only ones to think about these things,”
Jelenewicz says. “It’s not their responsibility to change the design to make
it safer, but they should know when a problem exists and then make sure the
design is changed.”
Construction materials must be documented as well, Domagala says. “Some
construction materials burn faster than others.”
For example, plastics are commonly used in construction because they are
easy to clean and sanitize. However, some types of plastics burn more
readily than others and once set ablaze are difficult to control with
ceiling sprinklers.
Materials should be tested and approved for certain types of occupancies.
“Test the materials to know what you have,” Domagala says. “Then look at the
loss history of those products. Some products have better performance than
others.”
Keeping Up With Changes
Facility executives also should know where the fire walls are and
what shape they’re in, Keith says. A fire wall with a hole in it won’t stop
a fire.
Facility executives also should be aware of all the previous uses of the
building and whether the original fire protection systems used a
performance-based design.
These buildings may be dependent on one specific fire safety system
compatible with the original use. If the building changes hands and uses,
the performance-based design may no longer be suitable for the new
application. Unfortunately, this information isn’t always communicated to
the new owner.
“Building systems are documented during design and construction, but future
owners might not be aware of those limitations or criteria, so it does not
get incorporated into their changes,” Gemeny says. “There’s a chance that
information gets lost when buildings change hands. And that’s important
because performance-based buildings require a more engineered review of
changes. Or systems may have to be maintained differently because one system
is more critical in the performance-based design.”
One solution is to incorporate redundancy into the original design “and live
with cost and inefficiency to make the building more robust in the future,”
he says.
The bottom line of all these suggestions is to prevent loss. The majority of
losses are preventable, Domagala says. “It’s easier to prevent loss than to
recover from the aftermath.”
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