in the Chemical laboratory Edited by NORMAN V. STEERE, School o f Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., 55455
IV.
Fire, Emergency, and Rescue Procedures
Fire in an occupied laboratory building calls for prompt action to get the people out safely and to bring the fire under control. Emergency procedures whieh are effective for evacuation in case of fire can also beeffeetive in case of toxicgas cylinder leaks and other situations likely t,n involve widespread danger. Procedures which provide for fire rescue and fire fighting can be adapted to other emergencies requiring special equipment and t,rsining. There are many laboratories with inadequate provisions for meeting and oontrolling emergency situations which can arise. I t might also be said t h a t many other laborntories have untested proredures t h a t exist only on paper. The fact t h a t an emergency has not arisen is no reason for taking this important planning for granted. A realistic appraisal of the circumstances whieh e m lesd to emergencies in a. laborstory will reveal many forseeable and eontrollable problems. Some of the problems which can be expected to occur include: Fire involving one or more laboratories, Chemical spills in corridors and labors, tories, Spills a i radioactive materials, Release of compressed toxic and coprosive gases, Failure of power to laboratory hoods, Escape of pathogens. Explosions and injury of apeman rrurking alone or in s n isolated ares. I n this article the general principles of emergency procedures will be outlined as a. guide far prepamtian of individual specific plans of action far the full range of emergencies which can he anticipated. Section A describes steps in the initial response, whieh is the primary respansibility of people in thelaboratory. Regular practice but no special equipment is needed. Section B describes equipment and training needed to enable laharrttary personnel to assist in the rescue and damage control operations, whieh are the primary responsibility of a fire department. Planning and preparation are neressary to assure that response t o labarat,ory emergencies is prompt, correct,, and effective. Damage and injury e m he limited if emergency procedures are established and practiced regularly, and if adequate equipment and trained personnel are availahle for naming, rescue, and damage control.
st,eps to prevent injury and limit the spread of t,he emergency: Alert porsonnol in the immediate vicinity, C o n h e the fire or emergency, Evacuate the building, Summon aid.
In all but minor situations, these steps take preecdence over rescue, fire fight,ing, or damage control. Even though small bench-top fires me rommonly extinguished wit,hout evacuxt. ing the building or summoning the fire d~part,ment, the first two steps of nlerting and confining should always be taken. There should he a n immediate readiness to evacuate the huilding and summon the fire department if such a. small bench-top fire cannot be controlled. There should he no criticism of a, procautionary evacuation of the building. Fire departments are more often grat,eful than critiral for being called to a fire that is out when they arrive. A fire which has gained headway before the fire department, is called is much mow diffirult to ext,inguish. Reporting a fire that has been extinguished will enable the fire department t,o be sure t,hore are no smoldering embers and will provide a t,imely opportunity for t,he depart,ment to become familiar with the arrangement of the lahoratory and the best means of access. Equipment needed for the primary procedures includes s n adequate system far signalling evacuation and a telephone or ot,her means of summoning aid. Alert Personnel in the Vicinity Specific emergency procedures shuold include specific directions for alerting and directing occupanls in the immediate vicinity of t,he emergency. Personnel in the vicinity should he informed of the nature and extent of the emergency, m d t,he action expected of them. I t may be very helpful to specify t,hat, for example, one person should he direct,ed to shut the door t o the lsborntory, one should actust,e t,he evacuation alarm, and nne should call t,he fire department and direct them to the srene of the emergency. Persons n-ho must work in isolated or unusually hazardous areas should be provided with same means, such as a eompressed gas horn, for summoning help or giving warning. Confine the Fire o r Emergency
A. P r i m a r y Emergency Procedures
A fire or emergency situation is conlined
Laboratory personnel have sole responsibility for the primary emergency procedure, which consists a i the following For more data about advertised products use t h e Reader's Service Card, page A411
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sash on the hood and shutting the door to the laboratory. Open tramoms between laboratoriesand corridara provide the means for immediate spread of fire, gases, and sir-borne eontaminants, and thoreby prevent effective confinement. We believe transomsshould be sealed off with plaster or other fireresistive construction. Ordinary glsss in doors or other openings between corridors and lahorataries will fail rapidly during a fire. Ordinary paneled or hollow-core wooden doors will also fail. Although the basic construetion walls between laborstories and corridors should be fire-resistant. there are fireretardant coatings listed by Underwriters Lnhocttories, Ine., which are intumescent and will provide a limited fire protection. Open stairwells or stairwells with doom held open with fusihle links will not provide an acceptable confinement of smoke and fire gases, since untenable conditions can develop so rapidly that people will be trapped hefore there is enough heat to melt fusible links. An arrangement whirl1 could provide an aeceptahle measure of life safety in college and laboratory buildings would mnsint of stairwell doors held onen ~~-with ~~~electromagnetic devices connected to a smoke detection system and to the evaeunt,ion alarmsystem, BO that smoke or pulling the alarm would dose all the stairv-cll doors. Although we do not know of n building in whieh such a combined system has been inst,alled, the separate corn~ o n e n t sare available oommereisllv and have been aonroved. Use of 8ueh a enm-
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circulation without the thresta tolife safet,y of open stairwells, or stairwell doors wedged, propped, or wired open. Evocuote the Building Fire is only one of the emergency conditions which may require evacuation of x laboratory huilding. A broken gallon of formaldehyde in a main corridor can present a formidable problem, as can large spills of many other chemicals. Lesking rylinders of toxic or corrosive gases are another type of emergency which may require quick evacuation to prevent many people from being injured or trapped. Failure of power to laboratory hoods in which numerous containers of noxious chemicals are staredcan create an immediate and urgent need t o evacuate the entire huilding. If building ventilation systems cannot be shut off bv an accessible emergency switch, the entire building may have to be evacuated because of otherwise limitedspills of radioactive materials or psthagens whieh e m be picked up and spread by x roeirculitting ventilation system. We recommend that laboratory build(Continued on page A370)
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ingn have a t least three evacuation drills each year, with everyone leaving the building. Rapid evacuation of laboratory buildinw with open stairwells is pnrtieularly important, since smoke and heat rise as quickly as if the open stairwell were a chimney. Untenable conditions n-hieh can trap people can develop in less than three minutes. I t is not reasonable t,o emeet raoid and exit drills. Evaruation drill8 m e practicable for labor at or,^ buildings and have been carried out successfully in a t least one large chemistry huilding. The Safety Committee of the department announced the day of the first drill. selected a. time which minimised interruption of classes, and asked for total evacuation of the building, while recognizing that there might be unusual situations in which shutdown would cause irretrievable loss of data; the building was evacuated completely in less than 2'/. minutes. There is no fl~ultlessmethod we know of for heing sure quickly, that all occupants of the building have escaped. Search and rescue would be greatly simplified if missing penons could he accounted for as soon as the building was evacuated, but such accounting d l he difficult ~ i t good h planning and almost impossible without. As s n approach to rapid accounting for occupants, we suggest that evacuation procedures be specific as to the point of rendezvous for each floor or lsboratory area. Ry planning such rendezvous, it should he feasible to get a quick idea of who may be missing and thereby localize initial search and increase chances of rescue. Evacuation drills will provide opportunities to practice such accounting methods, and toappraise operationof theevacuation and rendezvous procedures. Evacuating a building but allowing people to re-enter before the emergency is under control is folly and s. relinquishment of responsibility. Keeping occupants out of their building, from which they want to salvage research notes or equipment, is not easy. Keepingout reporters and other persons who have no right or reason to enter the building immediately is eztremely difficult. Occupants must assume responsibility for controlling scoese as long as necessary or until relieved by police or other public safety personnel. ~
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1 Summon Aid The fire department is a valuahle source of aid in many emergencies other than fire fighting. The fire department is, in most cases, equipped and ready t o rescue, remove leaking gas cylinders, provide emergency lighting and ventilation, and perform a variety of other services. The fire department can give maximum assistance if their resources are known and if they have an O D D O I ~ U.~t ~o ~~articionte in me.Y planning emergency assistance.' For examole. the fire denart,mmt should response.
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ceived reports of fires where the person calling failed to mention the location of the building on fire, and they have responded to calls and been unable to find the problem or the person who called. Calls for help from the fire department, or any other group should not only tell where the problem is, but should describe what i t is and what kind of help is needed. Giving an estimate of the size of the prohlem may help decide whether one or several fire companies will be sent, or whether one or several ambulances tiill be called.
B. Secondary Emergency Procedures After lsboratory personnel have carried out the primmy procedures which are their basic responsibility, there should be action to bring the emergency under control. The control actions, or secondary emergency procedures, are generally the operational responsibility of the fire department rtnd conskt of the steps: Rescue occupants, Fight the fire, Control the emergency. Laboratory personnel definitely have a responsibility to inform and advise the fire department about such things as haaards and the problems which may arise from use of steady streams. We believe strongly that a group of laboratory personnel should be equipped and trained to function before rtnd after the tire department arrives. Even if all fire departments were equipped with air masks, aluminized heat-reflective clothing, and special purpose extingui~hers,laboratory personnel should be prepared to act immediately while the fire department is en route. This section will describe briefly the kinds of equipment and training we believe necessary to provide adequate capability for control of laboratory emergencies. Rescue Occupanfs
Self-contained air masks w-ith a 15minute capacity should be provided (in pairs whenever possible) on all laboratory floors with chemical hboratoriea or radioactive materials, and especially near laboratories in which pathogenic or highly toxic mt~terialsare used. Large laborstory buildings should have two or three 30minute sir masks near the main entrance for administrative or supervisory personnel who will accompany the fire department on search and rescue operations. Self-contained masks are preferred because ehemical concentrations may exceed the capacity of canister masks, and because of the passibility of oxygen deficiency in the atmosphere. Aluminized heat-reflective suits are neoessary to give amateur rescuers assurance and protection to effect a rescue from a laboratory in which a 6re is out of eontrol. Although a proximity suit or fire approach suit is not intended for entry into fires, such a suit can be used for entry during the first few minutes of a fire. Prox-
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I Safety . . . imity suits of aluminized glaas cloth (as shown in the ~hotograph)were installed several years ago in Kedsie Chemical Laboratory a t Michigan State University to provide stsB and graduate students with protection for an immediate rescue from a burning laboratory. Self-contained air masks had been inatalled many years earlier. A rescue team of graduate stndents were able with practice to put on a mask and proximity suit in less than one minute. Protection against gases which can be absorbed through the skin or which react with body moisture requires a gastight suit. Such a,suit will not seem elpensive if i t provides protection in an extreme emergency. Flashlights, ropes, and gloves round out the basic equipment needed for quick rescues in ls*bors*toriw. More extensive equipment will be needed for rescue operations involved in disaster control.
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Emergency Equipment in a University Laboratory. Copability for rexue and fire fighting is provided by an olvminired heat-reflective suit over a self-contained breathing mask. Three retr of this equipment is available in the corridors of one university loboratory building. Training was provided for a team of groduote students.
All staff and graduate student8 should be made familiar with the function and omration of breathinemasks. and with the
in search and rescue under simulated conditions of smoke, heatandlimitedvisibility.
1
Fight the Fire
I n addition to the carbon dioxide fire extinguishers usually provided as the basic equipment in laboratories, there should be dry chemical extingukhers (sodium or potassium bicarbonate) for fighting Rammahk liquid fires which cannot he reached or controlled by COX. Water-type extinguishers are neededfor waste basket fires and fires in wood, cloth, and other ordinary combustibles. Special purpose extinguishers should be available for controlling fires involving sodium, potassium, lithium, magnesium, or other metals and for eleetronic equipment and chemicals requiring
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special extinguishing agents. Consideration should he given t o the purchase of wheeled dry chemical fire extinguishers which have great eapaclty for very large spill fires. If fire hoses are part of the building equipment, the nozzles should he checked and replaced if they are the customary straight type. These produce a hard stream whieh is not as effective as a spray and which tends t o break bottles and inoreaae the fire fighting problems. Adjustable spray-type nozzles with shut-off should he provided for all hoses. Training of s lsbaratttary fire brigade should follow the guidelines which have been established by the National Fire Protection Association, and should include reeular ~ractieein the use of all tvoes of
provide adequate control far ehemicel spills. The kind of equipment which would do the best job would he a portable industrial fan with explosionproof motor and hoses for pick-up and exhaust.
Edilor's Nok: Accident case histories reported by member companies of the Manufaeturing Chemists' Association, Inc., are published monthly by the MCA Safety and F m Protection Committee, which has granted permission for reprinting selected case histories here. The Editor wishes to express t~ppreeiationfor this privilege, and t o encourage resders to similar response.
Mild Steel Fails in Cryogenic Service fMCA Case History No. 947)
Descriptim. Rupture of an ammonia cylinder reaulted in moderate injury t o one man and relatively light damage. I t waa accepted procedure t o fill a. 2liter cylinder from large ammonia cylinders by placing it in a bath of dry ice and acetone. This was done a. few hours before the rupture and the man stated that the correct weight of 1 Kg waa charged. The cylinder lay in the walk-in (Continued on page A374)
ing assistance.
Conlrol the Emergency This category of action may be so hrasd that training will have to be by dry runs rather than by actual practice. The emphasis here is on anticipating the prohlems which may arise, and acquiring the equipment and supplies needed for control measures before the need arises. For example, large heavy plastic bags should he on hand for handling leaking gas cyhnders, for holding waste generated in radioactive decontamination, and for a variety of other uses. James Black a t the Public Health Service suggested several years ago the teehnique of handling leaking gas cylinders by closing them in a heavy plastic hag with a tube, hose, and clamp which can he released if the bsg threaten0 to burst. The technique is simple, and has been used effectively many times to remove cylinders from buildings and transport the cylinders to disposal areas without damaging the vehicle or injuring the driver. The teehnique is one that should he known and prepared for in every laboratory with s cylinder of toxic or corrosivegas. More expensive than plastic bags are wet vacuum cleaners whieh can pick up liquids. We helieve that every large laboratom buildine should have a wet, varwriters Laboratories as explosion proof. Mention wes made earlier that limited spills could involve the entire building if no switch were available to shut off a recirculating ventilation system. A similar problem eould result if there were no accessible shutoff for a, fresh air supply system which was pioking up air-borne contaminants in heavy concentration. The answer to such problems seems to be an emergency shutoff switch located in a corridor where m y responsible person could operate i t without delay. The switch could be installed as a special sort of alarm box, and could he tied in to the evaouation alarm system. Although fire departments have smoke ejection fans which might he useful for emergency ventilationin ease of spills, such fans may not he explosionproof and do not
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hood of a production laboratory and no one was working in the hood when the steel failed with x clean split up the entire length of the cylinder. A bottle oontaining PCI, and one containing rhlorosulfonic scid-both stored in the hoodbroke. A thick cloud of fumes resulted. Two members of the fire brigade, wearing sir masks, determined that there was no fire and it was decided to spray water on the floor t o neutralize the reaction. Aa soon as this was started, another explosion occurred and a small fire resulted whioh was quickly extinguished. The sprinklers in the hood were operating from the time of the cylinder rupture. The second explosion was caused by exphsing about 520 g of sodium which was stored in a bottle in the hood, to the water spray. The injured man was a technician who was working next to the hood. He suffered burns of the feet and a hand and was put under a safety shower as soon as possible. He lost some time from work but the burns were not considered very serious. Damage was limited primarily to the hood interior. Cause. I n discussions with gas cylinder suppliers, they felt t,hat subjecting the steel t o acetane-dry ire temperatures of -70°C would cause it to become brittle and fail under nominal pressures. The
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cylinder waa tested two yeitra ago a t 255 atmospheres. Preventive Measures. I t is best to leave cylinder filling to suppliers who are expert in this art. Where we must fill cylinders, alternative improved methods are available. Storage of chemicals in a working hood should be banned.
Laboratory Safety Workshop The Campus Safety Association and the Chemied Section of the National Safety Council will join in sponsoring a Laboratory Safety Workshop on July 14, 1964, during the Eleventh National Conference on Campus Safety, a t Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Attendance is open to all interested persons. The Workshop has been planned t o be of interest to colleges, industry, and other organizations with laboratories. Program: Morning Session: "Control of Microbiological Hazards in the Laboratory," G. Briggs Phillips, Assistant Director of Industrial Health & Safety, U. S. Army Biological Laboratories, Fort Detrick, Maryland. "Prevention of Contamination of Drinking Water Supplies," Roy F. Weston, Consulting Engineer, Newton Square, Pennsylvania. "Control of Toxic Chemicals," John H. Foulger, M.D., Consulting Toxicologist, Wilmington, Delaware.
Afternoon Session: "Safety Considerations in Research Proposals," H. K. Livingston, Chairman, ACS Committee on Chemical Safety, Wilmington, Delaware. "Shields and Barricades for Laboratory Operations," Ilavid T. Smith, Superintendent, Protection Division, E. I. du Pont de Nemours B Co., Chambers Works, Penns Grove, N. J. "Control of Labomtory Reactions," Dan Conlin, President, Instruments for Research and Industry, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. "Controlling Hazards from Uses of the Plasma Torch," Howard L. Kusnetz, Asst. t o the Chief, Div. of Occupational Health, Public Health Service, D.H.E.W., Washington, 1). C. Evening Session: "Lahomtory Waste Disposaln-.4n informal and open diseussion. Presiding: William S. Wood, Safety Engineer, Research and Development Division, Sun Oil Company, Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. The problems and techniques of safe disposal of research chemicals, flammable liquids, toxic chemicals, pathogens and carcinogens, and other hazardous materials will be discussed. Problems are invited, and answers will be welcomed. Advance registration should be sent to Conference Chairman, Professor M. Coulaon, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N. J. Registration fee for the Workshop is $5.00 before July 1, and $6.25 after July 1.
