This Article is on Fire!

By Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP)

 

Do you know what to do in the event of a fire? Do you know where the risks for fire are in your laboratory? What about those pesky regulations?  And most of all…do you know if your staff is truly ready in case a fire actually does occur?

 

If you’re confident that a fire can’t happen in your lab, you may wish to reconsider. In the twenty year period between 1980 and 1999, there was an average of 40 laboratory fires per year in the United States.*  That number  includes research and university laboratories as well as hospital labs, but I think the number is eye-opening!  It can happen in your lab.

 

The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) calls October “National Fire Prevention Month.”  The origin of this campaign dates back to the 1871 Great Chicago Fire which killed over 250 people. That makes this a good time to talk about fire safety in the laboratory, and it’s also a good time to review general fire safety with your staff.

 

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has a few regulations that are sensible whether or not they are your accrediting organization.  Do you have policies and procedures in place that discuss fire prevention and control?  You should, and these policies need to be fairly detailed. Does your staff participate in fire drills? If your facility conducts regular fire drills, make sure your staff is involved in that process on all shifts.  Some smaller off-site laboratories reside in facilities that do not conduct fire drills. If that is your situation, you can perform your own drills or you can ask your local fire authority to assist you with that task. At a minimum, it should be done annually.  At least one fire drill a year should include an evacuation of staff to your department’s designated meeting area.  You do not have to evacuate the entire staff at the same time, and if you need to, you can just walk out one person at a time. 

 

In your evacuation procedure, it’s a good idea to place someone (a supervisor or charge tech) in charge of taking the schedule with them to the designated meeting place. This is a way to account for all staff. Be sure to educate staff to always meet in your department’s designated meeting spot. In a larger facility, some staff may be on a break in another part of the building when there is a call for evacuation of the laboratory. Those employees still need to report to the lab’s meeting spot so that their presence is known and rescue workers will not be sent into a burning department after them unnecessarily. 

 

Another thing lab staff should have is fire extinguisher training.  This training does not have to be annual, but I recommend that staff receive it as often as possible in order to be comfortable and ready to use an extinguisher if ever necessary.  The training should be hands-on, including pulling the pin and actually spraying the extinguisher.  Some hospital facilities offer this training annually as they need to empty and recharge certain types of extinguishers.  I have sprayed real fires and employees’ feet, though I would not recommend the latter.  There are also some good hands-on simulation extinguishers available for purchase. 

 

Almost every laboratory I have encountered uses the acronyms R.A.C.E. and P.A.S.S. for fire response and fire extinguishing, respectively.  I ask that all employees can tell me what these stand for from memory.  You do not want to be reading these from a badge card while you’re panicking in the middle of a real fire!  

 

RACE

R= Rescue – remove anyone from harm’s way.

A = Alarm – Pull the fire alarm station AND call the emergency number (911 or a site-specific emergency number). Typically, you should perform both actions so that the building and the fire department both are aware of the incident.

C = Contain – Close all doors and windows to stop the spread of the fire.

E = Extinguish or Evacuate – If the fire is larger than a small waste basket, let the professionals handle it. Keep yourself safe.

 

PASS

P = Pull the pin

A = Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire.

S = Squeeze the trigger to activate the spray.

S = Sweep the nozzle from side to side at the base of the fire.

 

Remember, there are many things in the laboratory that can cause fires.  It’s a safe practice to check for these on a regular basis.  Look for frayed electrical cords (one of the most common causes of fires), placement of open heating elements (such as a microbiology loop incinerator), and chemical storage (keep away from heat) among other things. Never be relaxed about the risks for fire, all it really takes is a spark in the right place at the right time. This article was “on fire”…don’t let your laboratory end up the same way!      

 

 

*University of Nebraska-Lincoln website (http://ehs.unl.edu/training/Colloquium/PreventingLabFires.pdf)