Document 37Jb0rp1GJeV67LeQNNd3L2NE

43--Fire Protection companies, fire depaitments, and safety coun cils have films, posteis, and cutaway displays useful m explaining the construction, main tenance, and opeiation of portable extinguish es NFPA Standards No 10 and 10A, on poitable flic extinguishers, affoid paiticulaily valuable mfoimation foi the training of em ployees in piactices related to portable fire extinguishes The education of employees should lie con tinued with demonstiations, piactice drills, and lectures at yeaily intervals, or more often if theie is a special fire hazard It may be advisable to put printed instructions regarding the use of file extinguishes into the hands of the emplovee Mimeographed or printed sheets, leaflets, 01 cards can give both general and detailed instructions tegaiding the use of the extinguishes In addition, instiuctions in how to use ex tinguishers should be permanently posted neai 01 on the extinguishers themselves (Fig 43-26) Fne extinguishei training is intended to teach men and women how to stop small fires ftom spieading out of control Underwaters' Lalxn atones, Inc, lists fire extinguishers at only 40 percent of their firefighting capacity when used by an mexpenenced operator be cause 90 out of 100 people have nevei used a file extinguisher This shows the critical lmpoitance of training and means that any fire extinguisher in the hands of a trained opeiator has 2Ji times the fire-fighting capacity it has when used by a novice An organized fire brigade is a step ahead of even the best system of teaching individuals how to use poi table fiie extinguishers Maintenance and inspection One peison in the plant should be assigned lesponsibihty for the maintenance and inspec tion of fire extinguishing equipment In larger plants, this person may be the fire chief or the safety professional He may have one or more assistants to make routine inspections weekly or monthly and to do testing and re pair work in accoi dance with procedures re cited m NFPA Standard No 10 There should be a record system and an organized plan for checking and repainng vanous types of extinguishei s The inspection and maintenance lecords 1360 Fic 43-26 --Instructions should be permanently posted on and near extinguishers should at least consist of duiable tags fastened to the extinguishers showing dates of inspec tion (at least monthly), and examination for lechaige and other maintenance woik (at least annually) A duplicate lecord should also be kept in a file in the office Other lecords may be kept listing extinguishers by type, by location, and by lccharge penods The office record svstem should give the history of each extin guisher, the type and quantity of refills on hand, and other pertinent information Efficient in-plant maintenance requires that supplies of spare parts and refills be kept on hand In larger plants, specially trained per sonnel can test and refill extinguishers on a full-time basis In other plants, the main tenance service can be under contract with a reliable service organization or the manu facturer's lepresentative Generally, it is desirable to seal hand ex tinguishers or to install them in cabinets to discourage tampering and to facilitate inspec tion However, extinguishers should not be locked in cabinets nor stored in any way that would prevent immediate use in an emergency