Without care and due attention construction sites can become dangerous places. Obvious hazards stand out on site such as power tools and stacks of building supplies. Another harder to spot risk is the threat of fire from fuel sources and other flammable materials. To help you minimise the risk of fires we have compiled a brief guide for prevention of fire hazards on site.

With thoughtful planning you can arrange your construction site into divided areas. Just like how a kitchen has different bays for different food types to be prepared to avoid cross contamination it makes sense to arrange your construction site to eliminate the risk of accidents getting out of hand.

During hazard assessment and evaluation of a site it is important to not only focus on the potential causes of a fire but also how to minimise the risk of fires spreading. Once a fire starts on a construction site there are plenty of materials for it to feed off. Left unattended and without trained personnel a fire can soon spread and escalate beyond control.

The following are some precautions to minimise the opportunity of fires spreading.

• Store high volume flammable and toxic substances well away from work areas. Although this may not always be practical it will be easier to adjust to than the effects of a fire.
• Enquire about fitting remote controlled isolation valves for large containers of flammable substances. In the event of these substances being released you can then limit the potential for damage to be caused.
• If you are working on an outdoor site you can use natural features to your advantage. By arranging ditches, slopes and embankments you can help to stop the flow of a fire from reaching risky areas.
• Label and mark areas where flammable fumes and vapours may be present and add signs prohibiting naked flames.

With precaution and careful planning we can minimise the spread of fire but as long as there are flammable substances on site we cannot fully rule out the threat. Many fires are caused by a domino effect of isolated incidents triggering larger fires that spread across the site.

Knock on fires are usually caused by small fires coming into contact with flammable agents such as liquid and gas fuel sources. Fires can also spread by explosions which are often caused by pressurised containers overheating and scattering flammable debris around the site. This can then cause panic leading to staff leaving workstations unattended.

This may not seem like much but to put it in context here is a worse case scenario.

• A small fire breaks out near to some gas canisters.
• The fire spreads to the canisters causing them to heat up.
• The excess heat causes a canister to explode spreading debris across the site.
• The sound of the explosion causes staff to leave the workstations.
• A tool such as a welding torch left unattended could trigger another fire.
• As the small fire from the torch picks up along with other fires caused by debris the fire will continue to envelop the site.

Within minutes a fire could ravage your entire site causing thousands of pounds of damage and posing a considerable risk to personnel working. Using hazard assessment we can identify potential risks and minimise the threat of fire.