TABLE OF CONTENTS Previous chapters have discussed the overall management issues that need to be addressed if a coherent safety management system is to be established and implemented in an organisation. As this book is primarily focused upon fire safety management and its principles, a key element that must be addressed is ensuring an underpinning knowledge of the principles of fire and explosion; this chapter will concentrate on these areas.
An understanding of the principles are critical to identifying how a fire will start and spread, the former of which are known as primary fire hazards, each of which has the ability to initiate or start a fire, or exacerbate a fire. These elements will be required when completing a fire risk assessment.
Explosion and fire are interlinked in that on many occasions fire occurs after an explosion, it is therefore essential that those involved with fire safety and risk management have a basic knowledge of the causes and properties of explosion, particularly in relation to processes involving gases and dusts.
In order to appreciate the differences between fire and explosion it is necessary to look at the definitions:
Combustion a chemical reaction or series of reactions in which heat and light are evolved.
Fire chemical reaction brought about by the combining of fuel and oxygen and the application of sufficient heat to cause ignition.
Fuel can be either a gas, liquid or solid (state). The amount...
