Every construction site whether it is residential or commercial should have fire extinguishers onsite all the time. It is actually required by law that you have at least one fully operational fire extinguisher onsite and more depending on the overall size of the project.
It’s not just a good idea to have them onsite but you need to also train your people on how to use them and where they are located within the project.
Because in North America we still predominately build houses out of wood there can be a lot of wood cut-offs and sawdust around, these are extremely flammable and can easily catch on fire from a spark to a cigarette disposed of carelessly . This is why fire extinguishers are so important in construction, a small fire can easily be controlled with little to no damage to property, person or equipment if a well trained employ can extinguish a fire before it becomes out of control.
There are 4 different classifications of fire extinguishers;
Class A- for fires in ordinary combustible materials such as wood and paper where you need a quenching, cooling effect.
Class B-for flammable liquid and gas fires such as oil, gasoline, paint, and grease where you need oxygen exclusion or flame interruption.
Class C-for fires involving electrical wiring and equipment where you need a non-conductive extinguishing agent.
Class D-for fires in combustible metals such as sodium, magnesium, and potassium.
For most construction sites a 4A40BC extinguisher will cover all the work that is progressing.
Fire extinguishers will only usually work for about 60 seconds, which means that when you are attempting to extinguish a fire you most make sure that you are accurate with your direction of fire and not wasteful as it has a limited capacity.
Proper training is the best way to ensure that everyone is safe and gets to go home at the end of the
day.
Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.
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