The Fire Triangle & Common Ignition Sources

Welcome back, let's Build Smart & Build Safe! This week, we're tackling a threat that can cause immense damage and is a severe risk to life: Fire Prevention & Protection.

On a construction site, the necessary ingredients for a fire are almost always present. Understanding these ingredients and their sources is the first step to preventing a fire from ever starting.

The Fire Triangle

A fire requires three things to ignite and sustain itself:

1. Fuel: Any combustible material that can burn.

2. Heat: The energy source that ignites the fuel.

3. Oxygen: The air, which provides the oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction.

If you can remove just one of these components, you can prevent a fire or put it out.

Common Construction Site Examples

On a job site, these three components are everywhere:

• Fuel: Piles of wood scraps, sawdust, discarded cardboard, flammable liquids like gasoline or paint thinners, and rags soaked in oil.

• Heat: Hot work activities like welding and cutting, sparks from grinding, friction from a rotating drill bit, improperly maintained electrical cords, and even a discarded cigarette.

• Oxygen: The open air.

The potential for fire is always present. A hot spark landing on a pile of sawdust with a plentiful supply of oxygen can start a fire in seconds. Your job is to be the person who breaks the triangle.

Tomorrow, we'll discuss how to safely store flammable materials to keep them separated from ignition sources.

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-The Safety Man