What’s your fire (extinguisher) safety plan?

Fire is among the deadliest and most damaging workplace hazards. One way to limit the damages is to make portable fire extinguishers available at work. However, just installing extinguishers around the workplace will not guarantee employee safety in a fire.

As an employer, you have to think about what your employees are going to do in a fire-related emergency. Also, consider what planning options you’re going to take under OSHA’s Portable Fire Extinguishers standard, 29 CFR 1910.157. Whether you do or don’t keep fire extinguishers and whether you have some, all, or none of your employees use them, the options you choose make a difference in whether you:

• Need to comply with 1910.157, and/or
• Need an OSHA plan.

Extinguishers are often required

Your state/local codes and insurance carrier often call for you to provide portable extinguishers for use in fighting incipient stage fires in the workplace. This type of fire:

• Is in the initial or beginning stage;
• Is small, contained, and not spreading quickly; and
• Can be controlled or extinguished by using portable fire extinguishers.

1910.157 is OSHA’s extinguisher standard

OSHA’s Portable Fire Extinguishers standard has several regulatory paragraphs. These include: (a) Scope and application; (b) Exemptions; (c) General requirements; (d) Selection and distribution; (e) Inspection, maintenance and testing; (f) Hydrostatic testing; and (g) Training and education.

Planning options under 1910.157

Section 1910.157 provides alternatives if you do not want your employees to fight incipient stage fires at work. If you opt for the evacuation of all or most employees to a safe area, you do not have to comply with certain requirements of 1910.157, depending on the option chosen:

1. Evacuate all employees and extinguishers are not provided. OSHA says that you may choose to evacuate all employees to safety when a fire occurs. At the same time, let’s say you don’t make portable fire extinguishers available. If you select this option number one, you don’t have to comply with 1910.157 unless a specific standard in 29 CFR 1910 requires that portable fire extinguishers be provided. The catch is, with this option, compliance with 1910.38 (Emergency Action Plans) and 1910.39 (Fire Prevention Plans) is required through 1910.157(b)(1).
2. Evacuate some employees. Let’s say you prefer to evacuate all employees except those designated to use portable fire extinguishers. If you select this option number two, you need not comply with the “distribution requirements” of 1910.157(d), but you must meet the remainder of 1910.157. If this option is selected, compliance with 1910.38 is required through 1910.157(b)(2).
3. Evacuate all employees but extinguishers are provided. Some employers keep portable fire extinguishers in the workplace, even though they have a policy for total evacuation and   don’t want employees fighting fires. As stated earlier, portable fire extinguishers may be required in the workplace by other organizations. OSHA explains that portable fire extinguishers that are not intended for employee use may still pose a hazard if they’re not properly maintained. If you select this option number three, you must comply only with the maintenance, inspection, and testing requirements in paragraphs (e) and (f) of 1910.157. Plus, compliance with 1910.38 and 1910.39 are mandated per 1910.157(a).
4. All employees fight fires. If you don’t select options one, two, or three but instead provide portable fire extinguishers for use by any employee to use in fighting incipient stage fires, you must comply with 1910.157 in its entirety. Under this option, because you offer extinguishers for employee use, you must provide an educational program under 1910.157(g) to familiarize them with the general principles of fire extinguisher use. Those employees expected to use extinguishers must receive “hands-on” training in the use of equipment. If you choose option four, there is no requirement under the Portable Fire Extinguisher standard to comply with 1910.38 or 1910.39.