General
requirements |
An employer must:
- Provide portable fire extinguishers and
mount, locate, and identify them so that they
are readily accessible to employees without
subjecting the employees to possible injury [29 CFR 1910.157(c)(1)].
- Use only approved portable fire
extinguishers [29 CFR 1910.157(c)(2)].
- Do not use portable fire extinguishers that use
carbon tetrachloride or chlorobromomethane
extinguishing agents [29 CFR 1910.157(c)(3)].
- Assure that portable fire extinguishers are
maintained, fully charged, operating properly,
and kept in designated places at all times
except during use [29 CFR 1910.157(c)(4)].
- Remove from service all soldered or riveted
shell self-generating soda acid or
self-generating foam or gas cartridge water type
portable fire extinguishers that are operated by
inverting the extinguisher to rupture the
cartridge or to initiate an uncontrollable
pressure generating chemical reaction to expel
the agent [29 CFR 1910.157(c)(5)].
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Exemptions |
The following exemptions
apply:
- Where the employer has established and implemented a written fire safety policy
which requires the immediate and total evacuation of employees from the workplace upon the sounding of a fire alarm signal and
which includes
an emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan that meet the
requirements of 29 CFR 1910.38
and
29 CFR 1910.39 respectively, and when extinguishers
are not available in the workplace, the employer
is exempt from all requirements of this section
unless a specific standard in Part 1910 requires
that a portable fire extinguisher be provided [29 CFR 1910.157(b)(1)].
- Where the employer has an emergency action plan meeting the requirements
of 29 CFR 1910.38, which
designates certain employees to be the only employees authorized to use the available portable fire extinguishers, and which requires all other employees in the fire area to
immediately evacuate the affected work area upon the sounding of the fire alarm, the employer is exempt from the distribution requirements in the
selection
and distribution
section [29 CFR 1910.157(b)(2)].
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Selection
and distribution |
An employer must:
- Provide portable fire extinguishers for
employee use. Select and distribute the
extinguishers based on the types of anticipated
workplace fires and on the size and degree of
hazard that would affect their use [29 CFR 1910.157(d)(1)].
- Distribute portable extinguishers for use on
Class A fires so that the travel distance for
employees to any extinguisher is 75 feet
(22.9 meters) or less [29 CFR 1910.157(d)(2)].
- Use
uniformly spaced standpipe systems or hose stations
connected to a sprinkler system installed for
emergency use by employees, instead of Class
A portable fire extinguishers, provided that
such systems meet the respective requirements
of
29 CFR 1910.158 or 29 CFR 1910.159,
that they provide total coverage of the area to
be protected, and that employees are trained at
least annually in their use [29 CFR 1910.157(d)(3)].
- Distribute portable fire extinguishers for
use on Class B fires so that the travel distance for
employees to any extinguisher is 50 feet
(15.2 meters) or less [29 CFR 1910.157(d)(4)].
- Distribute portable fire extinguishers for
use on Class C hazards on the appropriate pattern for the
existing Class A or Class B hazards [29 CFR 1910.157(d)(5)].
- Distribute portable fire extinguishers or
other containers of Class D extinguishing agent for
employee use so that the travel distance from the combustible metal working
area to any extinguisher is 75 feet
(22.9 meters) or less. Portable fire
extinguishers for Class D hazards are required
in areas where combustible metal powders,
flakes, shavings, or similarly sized products
are generated at least once every two weeks [29 CFR 1910.157(d)(6)].
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Inspection,
maintenance, and testing |
An employer must:
- Inspect, maintain, and test all portable
fire extinguishers in the workplace [29 CFR 1910.157(e)(1)].
- Visually inspect portable extinguishers or
hoses monthly [29 CFR 1910.157(e)(2)].
- Perform an annual maintenance check on
portable fire extinguishers. Stored pressure
extinguishers do not require an internal
examination. Record the annual
maintenance date and retain this record for one
year after the last entry or the life of the
shell, whichever is less. Make the record available to the Assistant Secretary upon
request [29 CFR 1910.157(e)(3)].
- Empty and maintain dry chemical
extinguishers (that require a 12-year
hydrostatic test) every six years. Dry chemical
extinguishers that have non-refillable
disposable containers are exempt from this
requirement. When recharging or hydrostatic
testing is performed, the six-year requirement
begins from that date [29 CFR 1910.157(e)(4)].
- Provide alternate equivalent protection when
portable fire extinguishers are removed from
service for maintenance and recharging [29 CFR 1910.157(e)(5)].
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Hydrostatic
testing |
An employer must:
- Assure that hydrostatic testing is performed
by trained persons with suitable testing
equipment and facilities [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(1)].
- Assure that portable extinguishers are hydrostatically
tested at the intervals listed in
Table L-1 of this section, except under
any of the following conditions: [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(2)]
- Assure that an internal examination of
cylinders and shells to be tested is made before
the hydrostatic tests in addition to an external
visual examination [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(3)].
Table L-1 |
Type
of extinguishers |
Test
interval
(years) |
Soda acid (soldered brass shells) (until 1/1/82) |
* |
*Soda acid (stainless steel shell) |
5 |
*Cartridge operated water and/or antifreeze |
5 |
Stored
pressure water and/or antifreeze |
5 |
Wetting
agent |
5 |
Foam
(soldered brass shells) (until 1/1/82) |
|
Foam
(stainless steel shell) |
5 |
Aqueous
Film Forming foam (AFFF) |
5 |
Loaded
stream |
5 |
Dry
chemical with stainless steel |
5 |
Carbon
Dioxide |
5 |
Dry
chemical, stored pressure, with mild steel,
brazed brass or aluminum shells |
12 |
Dry
chemical, cartridge or cylinder operated,
with
mild steel shells |
12 |
Halon
1211 |
12 |
Halon
1301 |
12 |
Dry
powder, cartridge or cylinder operated with
mild
steel shells |
12 |
Footnote:
Extinguishers having shells constructed of
copper or brass joined by soft solder or rivets
shall not be hydrostatically tested and shall
be removed from service by January 1, 1982.
(Not permitted)
*Although still included in Table L-1,
29 CFR 1910.157, Soda
acid (stainless steel shell) and Cartridge
operated water and/or antifreeze extinguishers are now obsolete. |
- Assure that portable fire extinguishers are
hydrostatically tested whenever they show new
evidence of corrosion or mechanical injury,
except under the conditions listed in paragraphs
(f)(2)(i)-(v)
of this section [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(4)].
- Assure that hydrostatic tests are performed
on extinguisher hose assemblies that are
equipped with a shut-off nozzle at the discharge
end of the hose. The test interval must be the
same as specified for the extinguisher [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(5)].
- Hydrostatically test carbon dioxide hose assemblies
with a shut-off nozzle at 1,250 psi (8,620 kPa)
[29 CFR 1910.157(f)(6)].
- Hydrostatically test dry chemical and dry
powder hose assemblies with a shut-off nozzle
at 300 psi (2,070 kPa) [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(7)].
Hose assemblies passing a hydrostatic test do
not require any type of recording or stamping [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(8)].
- Test hose assemblies for carbon dioxide
extinguishers within a protective cage device [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(9)].
- Test carbon dioxide extinguishers and
nitrogen or carbon dioxide cylinders used with
wheeled extinguishers every five years at 5/3 of
the service pressure as stamped into the
cylinder. Nitrogen cylinders that comply with 49
CFR 173.34(e)(15) may be hydrostatically tested
every 10 years [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(10)].
- Hydrostatically test stored pressure and Halon
1211 types of extinguishers at the factory test
pressure, not to exceed two times the service
pressure [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(11)].
- Test self-generating type soda acid and foam
extinguishers at 350 psi (2,410 kPa) [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(12)].
- Do not use air or gas pressure for hydrostatic
testing [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(13)].
- Remove from service extinguisher shells, cylinders, or
cartridges that fail a hydrostatic pressure
test, or that are not fit for testing [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(14)].
- Ensure that the equipment for testing
compressed gas type cylinders be of the water
jacket type. The equipment must have an
expansion indicator that operates with an
accuracy within 1 percent of the total expansion
or .1cc (.1mL) of liquid [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(15)(i)].
- Ensure that the equipment for testing non-compressed
gas type cylinders includes the following: [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(15)(ii)]
- A hydrostatic test pump, hand or power
operated, capable of producing at least 150
percent of the test pressure, which must
include appropriate check valves and fittings
[29 CFR 1910.157(f)(15)(ii)(A)];
- A flexible connection for attachment to
fittings to test through the extinguisher
nozzle, test bonnet, or hose outlet, as is
applicable; and [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(15)(ii)(B)]
- A protective cage or barrier for personal
protection of the tester, designed to provide
visual observation of the extinguisher under
test [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(15)(ii)(C)].
- Maintain and provide upon request to the
Assistant Secretary evidence that the required
hydrostatic testing of fire extinguishers has
been performed at the time intervals shown in
Table
L-1. Such evidence must be in the form of
a certification record that includes:
- The date of the test;
- The signature of the person who performed
the test; and
- The serial number, or other identifier,
of the fire extinguisher that was tested.
Such records must be kept until the extinguisher
is hydrostatically retested at the time interval
specified in
Table L-1 or until the extinguisher is
taken out of service, whichever comes first [29 CFR 1910.157(f)(16)].
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Training
and education |
An employer must:
- Provide an educational
program to familiarize employees with the
general principles of fire extinguisher use and
the hazards involved with incipient stage fire
fighting [29 CFR 1910.157(g)(1)].
Provide this education when employees are first
hired and once a year thereafter [29 CFR 1910.157(g)(2)].
- Train employees (who have
been designated to use fire fighting equipment
in the emergency action plan)
in the use of the equipment [29 CFR 1910.157(g)(3)].
Provide this training when employees are first
given this assignment and once a year thereafter
[29 CFR 1910.157(g)(4)].
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